OHIO STATE UM still smells the roses; Buckeyes Texas-bound?

Michigan coach Lloyd Carr remained positive despite losing the rivalry game.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Behind the old gray concrete walls of Ohio Stadium, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr could barely hear the celebration taking place out on the field.
His team had just lost to rival Ohio State 37-21 on Saturday. Gone was a No. 7 ranking and an outright Big Ten title.
He tried to put a good spin on his disappointment, because that's about all that's left for a losing coach to do.
"We're not feeling sorry for ourselves," Carr said in that amiable drawl. "We've had an outstanding year. When you win the conference championship, you don't have to apologize or hang your heads."
The payoff came only later, after No. 17 Iowa thumped No. 9 Wisconsin 30-7, sending the Badgers to their second straight lopsided loss and making the Hawkeyes and the Wolverines the Big Ten co-champions. Since Michigan (9-2, 7-1) won the head-to-head matchup with Iowa, the Wolverines ended up exactly where they started the day -- in the Rose Bowl, most likely playing Cal.
Public relations
Ohio State (7-4, 4-4) muted a .500 Big Ten season and the many legal and public relations fiascoes that have dogged the Buckeyes for the past two weeks.
The Buckeyes appear headed for Texas for a bowl, most likely the Alamo Bowl against a Big 12 representative on Dec. 29 in San Antonio. They also could end up in the Sun Bowl in El Paso against a Pac 10 opponent Dec. 31.
No matter where they go, the Buckeyes savored their season-saving upset.
"We had some great teams in the mid-'90s and [Michigan] played spoiler a lot," Buckeyes linebacker Bobby Carpenter said. "This was our turn to play spoiler."
Ohio State -- which ostensibly had little at risk going into the game -- needed a win more than Michigan did.
"You feel like, at least on this day, everything is just right," coach Jim Tressel said.
Michigan led 14-7 heading into the second quarter and appeared willing to score on every possession. Instead, it was the Buckeyes who did, reeling off 27 consecutive points to leave the Wolverines reeling.
The unlikely heroes were a pair of high school teammates who didn't figure into Tressel's plans two months earlier.
Smith and Ginn
Quarterback Troy Smith saw only spot duty in the first two games of the season and then didn't play in the next three games. Only when Justin Zwick injured a shoulder at Iowa -- which dropped Ohio State to 0-3 in the conference -- did Smith get on the field.
As he learned the position, the Buckeyes won three in a row before a disappointing performance in a 24-17 loss at Purdue a week ago.
On a day where little went wrong for Ohio State, Smith carried 18 times for 145 yards -- one yard short of tying a school record for a quarterback. He also completed 13 of 23 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns without an interception or a sack.
Ted Ginn Jr. was Ohio State's most acclaimed recruit last winter, but he didn't play much in the early weeks of the season either. Recruited as a defensive back, he started taking on a larger and larger role elsewhere, returning punts and playing wide receiver. Given a chance, he blossomed.
"I'm pretty much at a loss for words," Smith said. "It's unbelievable."