Minnesota must be one of those girls who keeps coming back; even after they are ditched for a shot at the homecoming queen.

Glen Mason was shot down in his attempt to coach at Ohio State, but he still gets to dance with Minnesota.

Last January it appeared Mason was on top of the list of candidates to fill the OSU coaching void left by John Cooper. To say Mason, a former OSU assistant coach, campaigned openly for the job may be an understatement.

He let the scarlet and gray flow openly from his veins. Maybe he felt his strong OSU roots and track record as a head coach made him a shoe in for the job in the ‘Shoe. It did not.

Jim Tressel landed the job, and Mason went back to Gopher country with his tail between his legs. On returning to Minnesota, he asked his players if they wanted him to walk the plank. Luckily for Mason, they accepted him back.

Tomorrow will be Mason’s opportunity to show OSU (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) they hired the wrong man. After ending the Buckeyes’ perfect season last year, Mason and the Gophers (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten) may be even more motivated to win.

“I think you all give too much credit to emotional factors on my part because of side issues. It’s just not there,” Mason said. “I hate to lose. I don’t care who I’m playing. To say I want to beat one opponent more than another is not true. Losing is losing.”

Mason, who had tears in his eyes last season after beating OSU, probably had tears in his eyes walking back into the Metrodome.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without Ohio State. I grew up in New Jersey. I don’t know if I would have gone to college without a scholarship to Ohio State,” Mason said. “There were a lot of people involved back then – Coach Hayes, Earle Bruce, Jim Jones. College football is a lot different than professional football. You take young kids that don’t know where they’re going. They think they’ve got all the answers in the world, like I did. Then they work with you, help you and they emphasize the right things. I will be eternally grateful for everything those people that were involved with that institution did for me.”

The last time Ohio State lost two games in a row to Minnesota was in 1931. Mason plays down the extra motivation card for the game tomorrow.

“I don’t believe in that stuff. There’s a new cast of players. A lot of those guys out there were playing in high school last year. What do they know about what happened last year?,” Mason said.

Tressel also downplayed the Mason vs. OSU card.

“It’s not going to be a matter of what Minnesota does, it’s going to be a matter of what we do,” he said.

It may be a bit awkward for the Tressel and Mason reunion tomorrow – both were assistant coaches together at OSU. However, the two claim there is no bad blood or bitterness. A 15-year relationship might have something to do with that.

“I think the only one who would have that feeling would be someone who doesn’t know either of us,” Tressel said. “I remember there were a couple opportunities that came when we were both on staff here and it didn’t work out for him. When I left to go to Youngstown, three months later, unfortunately, the Kent State coach died and Mase (Mason) called up and said ‘What do you think? How do you like it’ and I said, ‘Hey go for it’.

“When you sit around as an assistant coach on those long nights you always wonder if you’ll ever be a head coach. You think ‘If I’m head coach, I’ll do this just like Earle (Bruce), but I won’t do this like Earle (Bruce),” Tressel said. “In my mind the best place in America to be head football coach is Ohio State. Why shouldn’t ‘Mase’ think the same thing?”

Tressel said he and Mason have always remained in contact since they met at OSU.

When asked if he looked at Mason as his prime competition nine months ago for the job, Tressel jokingly replied that Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden was. Tressel said he didn’t worry whether Mason or anyone else was competing against him.

“No we didn’t sit around there going through the Rolodex saying ‘Gosh I wonder who’, ” Tressel said.