Dan Rogers
Staff Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio - It might be the first season for the official college football playoff, but for Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, this isn't the first time they will have coached a playoff game against each other.
USA Today Sports
Urban Meyer is 1-2 in his career against Alabama's Nick Saban
It will be the third.
Since 2006, Saban and Meyer have combined for five of the eight national championships, Saban with three at Alabama and Meyer with two when he was at Florida.
The two coaches have battled three times during their SEC days, with Saban winning two, and the height of the rivalry came in back-to-back SEC Championship Games in 2008-09.
In 2008, Florida had defeated the Crimson Tide 31-20 to take the SEC title and eventually the national title as well. With revenge in the mind of the fans, Saban led the No. 2 ranked Tide against the top ranked Gators.
Alabama dominated from start to finish, prevailing 32-13 en route to winning its first of three national championships in four years.
"Florida was a dominant program at the time," Saban said. "We lost the SEC Championship Game in 2008, so this was sort of a rematch...I think we were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, if I'm remembering correctly in both those championship games. So it was a playoff game in a sense and they won one and we won one. Both teams went on to win a championship."
Meyer said those are the games that stick with him no matter what, even when other little things slip his mind.
"I have a hard time remembering our address or phone number but I could tell you every play in those games. It was classic," Meyer said in a press conference for the four playoff coaches. "2008 was a classic game...But, what was it, 2009 Alabama team, arguably the best team that I can remember going against or getting ready to prepare, very well balanced, very well coached. "So great memories--not necessarily great memories, but very clear memories of those games."
In comparison to the first two matchups, the third was a relative let down. In Meyer's final season in Gainesville, Fla., Alabama blew out Florida 31-6 en route to the Gators finishing the season 8-5.
After Meyer departed Florida for health reasons at the end of the 2010 season, there was some question as to if the rivalry would ever see a fourth chapter.
But in 2012 Meyer joined Ohio State, finishing his first year with the Buckeyes undefeated. In the same season Saban was claiming yet another national title with Alabama. It wasn't too farfetched to believe the two coaches would get another chance to meet on the field in a postseason game.
Those beliefs came true Dec. 7 when Ohio State was named the No. 4 team in the inaugural college football playoff, set to take on No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.
"I'm not surprised. I think Ohio State's an elite program, and obviously Alabama is as well," Meyer said of the speed with which the matchup has been renewed.
"I knew at some point, if you're going to reach for the top, that you have to go through the top. And the last several years, Alabama has certainly been at the top of college football."
On top of the rivalry between the two coaches, there is also the underlying battle between the Big Ten and the SEC. With the SEC being so dominate over the last few years, the Big Ten has taken some hits in national perception while its southern rivals have flourished.
But while fans endlessly argue whether or not there is an SEC bias in the polls and portrayal of the teams, Meyer is just focused on taking down a powerhouse program.
"I'm not quite sure what the SEC bias is," Meyer said. "I think it's hard-pressed to say top to bottom they are not the best league in the country...I'm not into bias and all that off. I think it's arguably the best program in America the last fix, six, seven, eight years. And to go take a swing and knock them off would be a monumental achievement for a bunch of guys in Columbus, Ohio."
It would be monumental indeed. Since the start of the 2008 season, Alabama has played 33 games against teams not in the SEC, and have only lost twice.
Perhaps the only solace the Buckeyes can take from that stat is that both of those losses came in the Sugar Bowl.
- See more at: https://ohiostate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1715729#sthash.zI19vbLq.dpuf
Staff Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio - It might be the first season for the official college football playoff, but for Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, this isn't the first time they will have coached a playoff game against each other.
USA Today Sports
Urban Meyer is 1-2 in his career against Alabama's Nick Saban
It will be the third.
Since 2006, Saban and Meyer have combined for five of the eight national championships, Saban with three at Alabama and Meyer with two when he was at Florida.
The two coaches have battled three times during their SEC days, with Saban winning two, and the height of the rivalry came in back-to-back SEC Championship Games in 2008-09.
In 2008, Florida had defeated the Crimson Tide 31-20 to take the SEC title and eventually the national title as well. With revenge in the mind of the fans, Saban led the No. 2 ranked Tide against the top ranked Gators.
Alabama dominated from start to finish, prevailing 32-13 en route to winning its first of three national championships in four years.
"Florida was a dominant program at the time," Saban said. "We lost the SEC Championship Game in 2008, so this was sort of a rematch...I think we were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, if I'm remembering correctly in both those championship games. So it was a playoff game in a sense and they won one and we won one. Both teams went on to win a championship."
Meyer said those are the games that stick with him no matter what, even when other little things slip his mind.
"I have a hard time remembering our address or phone number but I could tell you every play in those games. It was classic," Meyer said in a press conference for the four playoff coaches. "2008 was a classic game...But, what was it, 2009 Alabama team, arguably the best team that I can remember going against or getting ready to prepare, very well balanced, very well coached. "So great memories--not necessarily great memories, but very clear memories of those games."
In comparison to the first two matchups, the third was a relative let down. In Meyer's final season in Gainesville, Fla., Alabama blew out Florida 31-6 en route to the Gators finishing the season 8-5.
After Meyer departed Florida for health reasons at the end of the 2010 season, there was some question as to if the rivalry would ever see a fourth chapter.
But in 2012 Meyer joined Ohio State, finishing his first year with the Buckeyes undefeated. In the same season Saban was claiming yet another national title with Alabama. It wasn't too farfetched to believe the two coaches would get another chance to meet on the field in a postseason game.
Those beliefs came true Dec. 7 when Ohio State was named the No. 4 team in the inaugural college football playoff, set to take on No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.
"I'm not surprised. I think Ohio State's an elite program, and obviously Alabama is as well," Meyer said of the speed with which the matchup has been renewed.
"I knew at some point, if you're going to reach for the top, that you have to go through the top. And the last several years, Alabama has certainly been at the top of college football."
On top of the rivalry between the two coaches, there is also the underlying battle between the Big Ten and the SEC. With the SEC being so dominate over the last few years, the Big Ten has taken some hits in national perception while its southern rivals have flourished.
But while fans endlessly argue whether or not there is an SEC bias in the polls and portrayal of the teams, Meyer is just focused on taking down a powerhouse program.
"I'm not quite sure what the SEC bias is," Meyer said. "I think it's hard-pressed to say top to bottom they are not the best league in the country...I'm not into bias and all that off. I think it's arguably the best program in America the last fix, six, seven, eight years. And to go take a swing and knock them off would be a monumental achievement for a bunch of guys in Columbus, Ohio."
It would be monumental indeed. Since the start of the 2008 season, Alabama has played 33 games against teams not in the SEC, and have only lost twice.
Perhaps the only solace the Buckeyes can take from that stat is that both of those losses came in the Sugar Bowl.
- See more at: https://ohiostate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1715729#sthash.zI19vbLq.dpuf
