The questions began for Ohio State right about the time the news conferences started Wednesday afternoon for the 2008 BCS Championship Game on Monday.

Kiichiro Sato / Associated Press

Ohio State football head coach Jim Tressel talks during a news conference Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio. Tressel is 1-1 in BCS Championship Games, including 1-0 in games the Buckeyes aren't favored in. LSU is favored in Monday's game.

There was little way Ohio State was going to dodge the proverbial elephant in the room – Florida was going to come up.

Over and over and over and over again.

Finally, and likely thankfully, those questions will stop for the No. 1 Buckeyes (11-1) when they kick off against No. 2 LSU (11-2) in what amounts to a redemption game for Ohio State.

For the past five days, however, Ohio State’s 41-14 defeat and debacle in the 2007 BCS title game was the talk of the town. That one game – despite the fact that the Buckeyes are 23-2 the past two years – has become a referendum on Ohio State and the Big 10.

“This season was an opportunity to redeem (ourselves),” said Ohio State offensive tackle Kirk Barton, a key remnant from last year’s team.

“For the most part, we had a pretty good year last year up until one game. Everybody remembers your worst moment. That’s something I’ve figured out with college football.

“They don’t really remember when you do good; they only remember when you do bad. It’s something we’ve thought about, but we don’t dwell on those. Nothing positive comes out of it.”

With the loss in Glendale, Ariz., a year ago, Ohio State and the Big 10 went from being a top notch, beast of a conference to a slow, mediocre league.

The Buckeyes were loaded going into the Florida game. Troy Smith was a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback. Antonio Pittman was a bullish, speedy running back. Ted Ginn Jr. was a dynamite special teams player and return man.

And the defense, despite giving up yards and points to Michigan, was still one of the tops in the country.

And yet, Florida thoroughly dominated every phase of the game, ending the game basically before halftime by scoring on its first five possessions to take a 34-14 lead.

“You can rationalize a lot of reasons, but we got beat,” Ohio State offensive coordinator Jim Bollman said.

Now, nearly a year to the date, Ohio State again takes on an SEC team. You know, a speedy one, a physical one, an unbeatable one for the Buckeyes.

Rather than going in as the favorite as the top-ranked team, Ohio State will go in as an underdog. All because of last year’s game in the desert.

For the coaches and players, continuing to talk about the Florida game is getting old, though not completely out of line.

“You can’t expect that to go away within a year,” Ohio State defensive back Malcolm Jenkins said. “That’s probably not going to go away forever. It’s going to be on highlight reels for centuries from now.

“But that’s something we expected, and luckily, we have a chance to get that taste out of our mouths, erase that memory. And we get another shot at it.”

Added linebacker Marcus Freeman, “When we performed the way we did last year, you can’t expect nothing less but to be brought up again, especially when we’re in the same opportunity.”

If anything, the performance last year helped Ohio State get ready for this year. Instead of showing up 10 days in advance of the game, the Buckeyes arrived in New Orleans less than week before the game.

That has helped to keep the team focused, player said.

“We’re more focused than last year,” Ohio State defensive end Doug Worthington said. “We’re not going out as much as a whole unit. We’re taking it a lot more serious this time around.”