COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - No one could have blamed at least a few of the 19 seniors on Ohio State's football team if they had bolted for somewhere else.

The NCAA decreed last December that the Buckeyes couldn't play in a bowl or even in their own conference championship game after the 2012 season. The NCAA also said players were free to transfer without the usual penalty of having to sit out a year.

But all of the seniors stayed, and they were rewarded Saturday with an improbable 12-0 season.

But now, it's like they're all dressed up with no place to go. While others prepare for postseason trips and more heated national championship talk, the Buckeyes are on the outside looking in.

No one will ever know what might have been.