CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- So when does Ohio State-Michigan week begin? How about virtually as soon as the final seconds ticked off the clock Saturday at Memorial Field?

Exactly. You almost felt a sense of pity for the Illinois fans, who were still fired up moments after the Buckeyes beat the Illini, 30-20, on Saturday. By the time the Ohio State players had finished singing "Carmen Ohio" and made the diagonal run across the field toward the locker room, Illinois was history.

Sorry, Illini fans. The Illibuck Trophy is nice and the Buckeyes did want to avenge that loss to Illinois in Columbus last season, but there simply isn't any time to dwell on the game that precedes Ohio State's annual date with Michigan.

Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel, who can tell you in March how many days remain until his team meets the Wolverines once again, devoted just enough time to Ohio State's victory over Illinois in his postgame news conference. But then it was time to turn the page.

Not even BCS implications trump Ohio State-Michigan in Tressel's world. He didn't want to hear about this possibility or that one where the BCS was concerned.

Rose Bowl? Fiesta Bowl? Sugar Bowl? Poulan Weedeater Bowl? Non-issues for the week to come.

"What's important about next week is it's the Ohio State-Michigan game," Tressel said. "The BCS stuff and the bowl stuff is secondary to that, because the Ohio State-Michigan game is a season in itself."

Even this season, with the Wolverines playing out the string in Rich Rodriguez's first season? Michigan lost at home to Northwestern, 21-14, on Saturday. The Wolverines are 3-8 overall and 2-5 in the Big Ten Conference. Can "The Game" still be that big when Michigan isn't even going to a bowl game?

Don't be silly. Of course, The Game is still The Game. The Wolverines have a bowl game, all right. It's set for noon on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

The Buckeyes (9-2, 6-1), still in the hunt for a share of the Big Ten championship and a BCS bowl berth, will approach The Game the same way.

"It's well-documented, but unless you're in it, you don't really understand," linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "As soon as we got in the locker room (after beating Illinois), everyone's focus turns to that game."

When the Wolverines and Buckeyes line up at the Horseshoe on Saturday, Laurinaitis said nobody wearing scarlet and gray will remember or care that Michigan lost to Toledo and Purdue - among others - this season.

"It doesn't matter what the records are in this game," Laurinaitis said. "Anyone who has been around Ohio State-Michigan knows that these teams go defeated all year and it will still be the thing to watch in November.

"It's always a battle, and it's always the most physical game you'll play all year."

And as Chris "Beanie" Wells said: "That's why you come to Ohio State."

Wells ran for 222 yards and both touchdowns on 39 carries in the Buckeyes' 14-3 victory in Ann Arbor a year ago. He knows what The Game is all about.

Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor has an inkling, too. He was recruited by Rodriguez - first at West Virginia and then at Michigan. Pryor seemed to enjoy the rivalry as a high school kid caught in the middle last spring, before he finally chose Ohio State. He was asked Saturday if his first taste of The Game will be more personal because of what happened on the recruiting trail.

"They're just another team," Pryor said. "I'm treating them like any other team."

It wasn't the answer everyone expected. But it's OK. Pryor is young. He'll learn about The Game.

Either that or he was just playing it close to, er, um, the vest.

epuskas@tribtoday.com