Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Chase Reichheld sold his $29 Ohio State student tickets to tomorrow's football showdown against the University of Michigan for $400 each to help pay college expenses. His roommate, Jameson Wagner, kept his seats and will go to the season's biggest game after a jump in the lake.

The meeting between top-ranked Ohio State and second-ranked Michigan, both unbeaten and aiming at the national championship in January, has ticket prices for the 102,000-seat Ohio Stadium at higher levels on Internet resale sites than for baseball's World Series or the low end of pro football's Super Bowl.

More than just ticket prices are high. Columbus, the state's largest city and home of the Buckeyes, experienced a 25 percent rise in vendor licenses for the game, and media credentials were capped at 125 from the usual 80, said Bob Leone, an Ohio State marketing professor. Also, U.S. House Conference Chairwoman Deborah Pryce's job is at stake.

``This has a huge impact on the community,'' Leone said in a telephone interview. ``Retailers and grocery stores are running specials and otherwise joining in on the Buckeye fever. It's merchandising heaven.''

The Franklin County Board of Elections was supposed to re- count the votes tomorrow to decide the race between Pryce and Democratic challenger Mary Jo Kilroy. ``The game is a big event here, so we're probably not going to work a full day,'' said Matthew Damschroder, elections board director.

Police Plans

Police and university officials have heightened security to try to avoid the type of disturbances that followed an Ohio State win over the Wolverines four years ago, when eight students were expelled.

``No amount of hype and excitement excuses violence or endangering your own or others' safety,'' Richard A. Hollingsworth, vice president for student affairs, said in a statement sent to all Ohio State students on Nov. 14. Any student arrested will be suspended immediately, he said.

Police have banned trash cans, furniture and other flammable materials such as couches on porches from areas around the stadium. University of Michigan police will travel to Columbus and are giving Wolverines fans a cell-phone number to call ``if at any time you feel unsafe,'' according to an e-mail quoted in today's Columbus Dispatch.

Sold Out Season

Ohio State's games are sold out on a season-ticket basis, with face values of $59 for the general public, $48 for faculty and staff, and $29 for students for each game. Those still trying to find a way inside the stadium known as the Horseshoe for the 3:30 p.m. New York-time kickoff will pay much more.

The average ticket for the game on Ticketsnow.com is $835, according to Jennifer Swanson, a spokeswoman for the Web site based in Crystal Lake, Illinois, with prime seats topping $3,200 elsewhere. The cheapest ticket sold on the Web site for the 2006 Super Bowl in Detroit was $770, while the average price of this year's World Series seat was $612, she said.

``Without a doubt, this is the biggest seller of the year,'' Swanson said in a telephone interview. ``This is the hottest college football ticket we've ever seen.''

This is the 103rd time OSU and Michigan will play, in what ESPN.com called the No. 1 sports rivalry of the 20th century. The Buckeyes and the Wolverines began playing one another in 1897, but they've never been ranked 1-2 in the polls entering a game. It's the first time since 1973 that they've meet with perfect records, both 11-0.

At stake is an undefeated season, the Big Ten title and a chance to play for the national championship Jan. 8 in Glendale, Arizona.

Chilly Jump

Reichheld, 20, a second-year student from Medina, Ohio, said OSU students receive their tickets to home games at the beginning of the school year.

``I would rather have the money,'' Reichheld said in a telephone interview.

Not so for his roommate. Wagner, 20, also from Medina, began his pre-game celebration with a midnight swim in Mirror Lake on the Ohio State campus. With the temperature around 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 Celsius), thousands of people jumped into the waist-high water to evoke the spirit of former Buckeye coach Woody Hayes for help in winning the game, Wagner said.

``No price was worth my ticket,'' Wagner said.

Two tickets with ``good views'' were selling for as much as $3,200 on EBay Inc.'s auction Web site today. Last year's game in Ann Arbor brought an average price of $415.

Parking

Neighborhood residents are selling parking on their property. Parking spaces on Craigslist, a free online trading Web site, go for as much as $50 a car.

Travel agencies in Columbus already are advertising air, hotel and ticket packages to the BCS championship for more than $2,600. Before tomorrow's kickoff, Tria, a Greek restaurant in Powell, Ohio, is offering to cater tailgating parties. Anthony- Thomas Chocolates of Columbus has a ``Beat Michigan'' special of a half-price T-shirt with any box of Buckeye candy.

``What an exciting time to be a Buckeye!'' Hollingsworth wrote in his e-mail.

To contact the reporters on this story: Carol Wolf in Cleveland at cwolf@bloomberg.net; Curtis Eichelberger in Washington at ceichelberge@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 17, 2006 19:17 EST