The Michigan-Ohio State football game is priceless.

The 101st playing of “The Game” will be just that. The two Big Ten football powers turned down more than $1 million from SBC Communications for naming rights to the season-ending game that often has decided the conference championship.

Earlier this week, the parties announced they were finalizing an agreement to call the Nov. 20 game at Columbus the SBC Michigan-Ohio State Classic. Each school would have been paid $520,000 for the two-year deal that would have been allocated to various projects.

“The agreement SBC has to sponsor the Ohio State-Michigan games for 2004 and 2005 will not go forward at this time,” said Matt Resch, an SBC Michigan spokesman. “We appreciate our on-going relationships with (the schools) and will continue to work with (them) in ways to benefit education and the communities we serve.”

Michigan coach Lloyd Carr was less than enthusiastic about the deal on Tuesday and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was resigned to the deal as a sign of the times. Their bosses changed their minds on the issue. Fans and alumni from both schools voiced their displeasure with phone calls and e-mails.

“The money was not the issue,” Michigan athletic director Bill Martin told the Associated Press. “We didn’t even talk about the money. It was a matter from president (Mary Sue) Coleman’s perspective and mine in the final analysis that this was inconsistent with the values we share with the greater Michigan family.”

SBC, which sponsors the Texas-Oklahoma game, would have displayed its name on the scoreboard and signs at Ohio Stadium. The company name would not have been displayed on the field or on the uniforms. There would have been no signs or ads at Michigan Stadium.

In the end, tradition won out over revenue. The Michigan-Ohio State game will still be known as “The Game.”

“As we attempted to move forward, it became apparent that this agreement could detract from the great tradition of the game itself,” Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger said. “Given that possibility, and the fast-approaching date of this year’s game, the two universities agreed it was in their best interest not to pursue the arrangement at this time.”