College football was much different the last time the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked teams met in a conference championship game.
The University of Alabama and the University of Florida met in the Southeastern Conference championship game in 2009 as the top-ranked squads. Curt Cignetti, now Indiana football’s head coach, was on the Crimson Tide’s coaching staff at the time.
Neither name, image and likeness nor the transfer portal were around. There was no such thing as the Big Ten Championship game, which was introduced ahead of the 2011 season.
But at 8 p.m. Saturday inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana will meet with the conference title at stake.
The Hoosiers are coming off a dominant 56-3 victory over Purdue on Nov. 29 to retain the Old Oaken Bucket, while the Buckeyes defeated their archrival Michigan for the first time since 2019.
“Need to have a great day of prep today and stack days, meetings, practices and give ourselves the best chance Saturday,” Cignetti said in a press conference Monday. “So, play 1 to 150, we can play our best. Playing a great football team. A lot of great players across the board, dominant.”
Although both Indiana and Ohio State enter Saturday’s matchup as the lone two undefeated teams left in the country, the programs’ paths to 12-0 were starkly different.
The Buckeyes began the season with a seven-point victory over the University of Texas. Since then, they’ve won each of their next 11 games by at least 18 points. Cignetti said they “haven’t really been challenged this season.”
Conversely, the Hoosiers have truly been tested three times. First, they escaped Kinnick Stadium on Sept. 27 with a five-point victory over Iowa thanks to senior receiver Elijah Sarratt’s game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Then, Indiana went to Autzen Stadium on Oct. 11 and defeated then-No. 3 Oregon by 10 points. Finally, the Cream and Crimson appeared bound for their first loss Nov. 9 against Penn State at Beaver Stadium, where they trailed with less than two minutes left in the game. But redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza led another game-winning drive.
“We've been in some close games and down-to-the-wire games,” Cignetti said. “When you're successful in those kind of situations, it can only add to your confidence and belief that the next time you're in one, you're going to make it happen because you have in the past.”
Last season’s meeting
When Indiana traveled to Ohio Stadium in late November 2024, it sat at 10-0. It was once the feel-good story around the country early in the season until the Hoosiers continued their winning ways.
The matchup with Ohio State was Indiana’s first test on a national level — and it failed, falling 38-15.
The Cream and Crimson still recognize the challenge that lay ahead this time around. Indiana has lost to Ohio State in each of the last 30 meetings dating to 1988. The Hoosiers respect the Buckeyes, Cignetti said.
“Not pleased with really the way we played last year,” Cignetti said. “... We've talked through that yesterday, the things that happened in that game. But this is a different team.”
The Hoosiers went into that contest with too much of an underdog mentality, senior linebacker Aiden Fisher said in a press conference Monday.
Whether it was the offense’s struggles with crowd noise or the defense’s inability to slow the Buckeyes’ offense, the Hoosiers couldn’t hang with Ohio State. And their dismal special team’s showing certainly didn’t help.
“If you all remember, the special teams was a big part of our downfall last year in that game,” Cignetti said. “So, our special teams, aside from that game, were excellent last year, and they've been very good this year. So they're going to need to be real good Saturday.”
Despite staff changes at Ohio State — new offensive and defensive coordinators — there’s still plenty of familiarity between the two squads.
“So we've got an idea how we think they'll attack us,” Cignetti said. “I'm sure they have an idea how they think we'll attack them. You put your best plan together to put your guys in position to make plays, and then got to execute it.”
In Indiana’s tests this season, Fisher said the Hoosiers haven’t had any doubt. There weren’t times when they thought a loss was bound to happen.
And with Indiana’s postseason set to begin Saturday, it certainly doesn’t feel that way about the looming matchup — even if it’s the first of its kind since Cignetti coached under former Alabama head coach Nick Saban over 15 years ago.
“Obviously, with this game, we’re not looking at it as an underdog game at all,” Fisher said. “It's two giants clashing. We’re both 12-0 for a reason. We’re both good football teams. The better team will win on Saturday.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
