World/National

And all the players displayed the sadness of knowing that this time their best was just barely good enough.

“We had this one, but somewhere we just took a right turn,” said senior point guard Jamar Butler. “I was sure we would collapse in the last five minutes like we have pretty much all season. I just don't know what went right.”

Fellow senior Matt Terwilliger wondered about what might have been, “Why couldn't Florida have won in the semi-finals? Certainly any SEC team would have embarrassed us. Then we'd be where we want to be: shaking our heads disappointed that we lost, but proud that we made it this far. You just can't duplicate the complacent duality of that second place feeling.”

Younger players like freshman Evan Turner didn't see the harm in winning, “I didn't feel like we were showing off too bad by just winning the NIT. Frankly, finishing second to any of these teams would have taken a monumental effort of sucking.”

Nevertheless, in accomplishing an NIT championship, the Bucks fell short of their university's goal and failed the university-wide program designed at very respectable, yet modest second place finishes.

The runner-up program was the brain-child of football coach Jim Tressel, who's humble Midwestern origins and Christian values coupled with Ohio State's recent championship successes caused him to reevaluate the university's place in the collegiate sports landscape.

“Frankly, we were just becoming too dominate,” said Tressel. “I'm a humble fellow and I just felt like first place was showing off.”

It was after the Bucks' 2003 BCS Championship that Coach Tressel began shaping his runner-up program, a program designed to “ensure general consistency, respectability, and quasi-excellence with minimal exposure and winning.” He dubbed it “The Lucci Project”, a reference to longtime soap star and perennial Emmy runner-up Susan Lucci, and incorporated the program into the rest of the university's athletic programs.

Tressel explained the reasoning behind the program, “There's no Cher without Sonny, no rainbow without rain, no haggis without sheep innards. We follow the golden rule and we're perfectly happy to be Kelly Rowland if it'll make Beyonce a star.”

The program largely centered around a plethora of motivational speakers. Al Gore, Bill Buckner, Stephen Baldwin, Jim Kelly, Jim Belushi, and a large number of local bridesmaids all spoke to the Buckeye players and extolled the virtues of being #2.

Tressel's success at failing when it mattered most inspired the rest of the OSU athletic programs to get on board, with the basketball, soccer, and wrestling teams all losing in the national championship game in the last two years. But it is the basketball team that has given the football team its best run for the money.

Coach Thad Matta stated his case, “Sure, the football team lost two straight title games. But we finished second to the football team in terms of finishing second. So really we won. But we both should be happy. There really are no winners here.

“Besides it's not like we won the NCAA's. The NIT is the second best tournament, so really we finished second again. I mean, how many teams can say they're a second-rate champion?”

With a winningly complacent attitude like that, it's hard to see how the Buckeyes could fail to fail to win several more championships in the future.

Buckeyes Devastated by NIT Title, End of Record-Setting Championship Game Losing Streak

Thad Matta was "greatly disappointed" with his team's competent championship performance.

By WOODROW BUCKLEY

NEW YORK—Usually after the championship game, the locker room of the winning team is a jubilant place. But there were no hugs, hats, cigars, champagne, or shouts of joy following Ohio State's embarrassingly competent performance in Thursday night's 92-85 victory over UMass in the NIT championship game.

Indeed it was a somber Buckeye locker room, reflecting the fact that they came so close to making history for their university by losing championship games for two consecutive years in the major sports of football and basketball.