"The perfect choke job"

You'd think the team with the freshmen and sophomores playing on the road would have choked. Not the senior-laden team with much more at stake.

Well, you thought wrong.

The University of Michigan men's basketball team was on its way to a huge upset of No. 1 Ohio State Saturday - which would have nearly sealed the team's first NCAA tournament bid since 1998 - until it pulled the perfect choke job.

The Wolverines led by six points, 61-55, after a three-point play by Courtney Sims with just under four minutes to play. Then there was a timeout. Now I'm no insider, so I don't know what went on during those couple minutes - I can't say if Tommy Amaker told his players they'd worked too hard to win, or if some drug was slipped in Dion Harris' water - but the game changed drastically after the timeout.

All game, Michigan's seniors - Harris, Sims, Lester Abram and Brent Petway - had led the way, as they should on Senior Day. Harris had hit the big 3-pointers. Petway and Sims had banged down low against Super Freshman Greg Oden. Each scored 11 points and Petway had eight rebounds.

All game long... until it counted most. With Michigan's lead cut to 65-61, Sims got a great feed down low and elevated over Oden, but missed a dunk. He threw his arms in the air, complaining about the no-call, but with less than 3 minutes to play in a close game, you can't expect to get a touch foul. The bottom line is Sims should not have blown the dunk.

Then, after the Buckeyes took a two-point lead, Harris was fouled with 48 seconds remaining and approached the free throw line for a bonus opportunity. The senior calmly (at least he appeared calm) went through his routine then released the ball.

Not even close. Clank, off the front right part of the rim. You can't say anything except Harris choked. Harris entered the game an 85.9 percent free throw shooter and had made four of four of six attempts before his choke job.

Switching gears here, Amaker has rightfully taken a lot of the heat for this team's woes. But this loss has to fall on the players' shoulders. You could tell, just watching on TV, how much Amaker wanted this win. He actually picked up a technical foul. Amaker hardly shows enough emotion during most games to make you think he's the head coach. But on Saturday he did everything possible to lead his team to the huge upset. His team just let him down at the end.

Obviously there was much more pressure on Michigan than Ohio State coming into the game. The Buckeyes had already clinched the outright Big Ten title and could still get a No. 1 seed in the approaching NCAA tournament with a loss to the Wolverines. Michigan NEEDED this win. Now it's most likely headed to yet another NIT. Unless the Wolverines win at least three games in the Big Ten tournament, I don't see them getting in the field of 65. One reason is that there are more bubble teams than ever out there. Teams who have actually beaten somebody. The Wolverines haven't beaten a team in the current Top 25 yet this season and have 0 quality road wins.

A perfect team to compare the Wolverines to is Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are just 19-10 heading into their regular-season finale against Boston College, however they got that "key" win by upsetting North Carolina at home on Thursday. That's the difference between the Yellow Jackets and the Wolverines. That wins which stands out. Michigan doesn't have one.

They were 4 minutes away on Saturday. The crowd at normally silent Crisler Arena was on its feet, anticipating the biggest win for the program in nearly a decade. Everything was looking up. Then the seniors gagged. Yes, they're just kids, really. That shouldn’t be forgotten. We're not talking about professional athletes. It was transparent after the game how hurt they were that they didn't deliver a win for the home fans on Senior Day. They should still be recognized as fine student-athletes who have served U-M well.

But, yeah, they choked. Ohio State played well in the final minutes. Greg Oden had a huge tip-in to cut Michigan's lead to two, and Jamar Butler made an acrobatic fastbreak layup - which looked like a very difficult shot - to give Ohio State a 63-61 lead and then made two clutch free throws with 12 seconds remaining to all but ice it.

In the end, Ohio State's young players did what they needed to do to win in a hostile environment (really - I'm not kidding, the fans were rowdy) and push their candidacy for a No. 1 seed. Michigan's players, on the other hand, most likely inked their bid to yet another NIT tournament.

It's sad, really. They were so close, yet now so far. The definition of a missed opportunity.