By Charley Gillespie
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State's chance to play for a national championship has inflated ticket prices for Saturday's Michigan game to the point even die-hard Buckeyes fans are selling their seats.

"It is not that we are trying to take advantage of people," said Peg Matheny, who hopes to get $1,000 for her two tickets and apply the cash to next year's season tickets. "There are just so many parties that we want to go to instead."

Usually, tickets for an Ohio State-Michigan contest are at a premium. The annual college football rivalry is known as "The Game," and fans of both teams count down to the kickoff from the season's inception.

This season, however, an even bigger game looms for the second-ranked Buckeyes. A victory over the Wolverines means a trip to the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3 and the chance to play for Ohio State's first national title since 1968.

Hundreds of tickets for the Michigan game are being offered on the Internet auction site eBay, where some sellers want $1,000 per seat. Newspaper ads are asking for $500 a seat. Face value is $45.

"Every year it is crazy, but this is probably the worst it has been," said Jamie Kaufman, president of Columbus-based Dream Seats Inc. "We are averaging about 200 calls a day with most people wanting to sell their tickets."

Ticket resale is legal in Columbus. Ohio State students and faculty members could be cut off from buying tickets in the future if they sell their tickets for a profit. The university says punishment is rare, however.

Jeff Breece, 41, of Delaware, is so confident the undefeated Buckeyes (12-0) will beat Michigan that he already has purchased airline tickets and accommodations for the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.

"You have to take a gamble and try it because if you wait until everybody else wants to go the price goes up," he said.

To pay his way, Breece wants to sell his tickets to the Michigan game for $400 on eBay. A ticket broker offered him $175 apiece.

"They told me they couldn't give a firm price on Fiesta Bowl tickets yet," Breece said.

Kaufman said it costs about double to attend the Ohio State-Michigan game from what it did in the past.

"It can't get any more expensive," he said. "Hype brings out all the sellers. Everyone is going to have to adjust their prices."

Kaufman said his customers can't believe the cheapest seats in Ohio Stadium are going for $250 and the best seats cost $1,000.

The most expensive tickets are going to corporations, he said.

"More than one person has said `I think we will stay home and pay our mortgages this month,' " Kaufman said. "That's what it is, a mortgage payment."

Kaufman said one person traded Ohio State-Michigan tickets for tickets to see Bruce Springsteen next month in Columbus.