Nov 30, 2018 5 min read

Urban Meyer arrived in Indianapolis on Friday with one goal — heading home with another Big Ten championship trophy.

He treated everything else as a sideshow.

Meyer ignored speculation about his coaching future and deflected talk about what No. 6 Ohio State would need to earn a spot in the college football playoff. Instead, Meyer stuck to the same message he’s relayed to his team all week: Just focus on football.

“We wanted to be hard on them, be fresh and be mentally prepared and I think we’re there,” Meyer said. “I like where we’re at.”

Being back in Indy for another shot at the title and yet another possible playoff berth should be a relief in itself.

Seven weeks ago, the Buckeyes’ championship hopes nearly vanished with an embarrassing 49-20 loss at Purdue. But Ohio State rebounded by hanging on against Nebraska, walloping No. 18 Michigan State and outlasting Maryland in overtime before moving back into playoff contention with an impressive 62-39 Big Ten East-clinching victory over No. 4 Michigan

Since then, Meyer has dealt with all sorts of chatter and speculation, ranging from potential playoff scenarios to reports about his future at Ohio State (11-1, 8-1, No. 6 CFP),

“Uh, no comment on that,” Meyer said when asked Friday about a report that next season would be his last in Columbus, Ohio.

Northwestern, meanwhile, continues to embrace playing the underdog.

Few expected the Wildcats (8-4, 8-1, No. 19) to dethrone Wisconsin in the Big Ten West, especially after losses to Duke, Akron and Michigan in successive weeks in September. But their only other stumble came against Notre Dame, another playoff hopeful, and now it appears Northwestern is one win away from reaching its first Rose Bowl since coach Pat Fitzgerald was a Wildcats’ player in 1995.

It’s Northwestern’s first appearance in Indianapolis and one Fitzgerald believes is overdue.

“We’ve been building this program now for 13 years and a lot of thoughts, a lot of emotions when we pulled in here,” Fitzgerald said, recalling what former coaches Gary Barnett and Randy Walker did for the program and his career. “This was the next hurdle for our program to get over. The next goal is to win it.”

Big 12

Texas players celebrated on the field at the State Fair of Texas, flashing “Hook ‘Em Horns” signs and posing for pictures with the “Golden Hat” trophy that goes to the winner of their Red River rivalry against Oklahoma.

Soon after leaving the field, though, the Longhorns were already thinking about the possibility of another meeting this season against the three-time defending Big 12 champion Sooners — for a different trophy in a different location.

“Absolutely. It was one of the first things we said after we got back to the locker room,” Texas tight end Andrew Beck said. “Some of the senior guys who walked in front of the team said, be smart with what you say because we’re going to see those guys again.”

Eight weeks after Texas won 48-45, they do meet again. Fifth-ranked Oklahoma (11-1, 8-1 Big 12, No. 5 CFP) plays the ninth-ranked Longhorns (9-3, 7-2, No. 14 CFP) in the Big 12 championship game.

For the Sooners, this unusual rematch is about more than avenging its only loss. They can become the first Power Five team since Florida in the mid-1990s to win four consecutive outright conference championships, and a win could get them into the College Football Playoff for the third time.

“It’s one of the greatest rivalries in college football, but this week is about winning a championship and that’s what we’re focused on,” said Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray, no relation to the Sooners’ Heisman Trophy-contending quarterback Kyler Murray.

“There’s always a lot riding on this game when you play it in October, no question about it, but there’s a lot of season left,” Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said. “This one, I think, I’m sure it’s gonna be heated. But I think it would have been heated no matter who the two teams were in there, just because of what you’re playing for.”

This is only the third time in the series that started in 1900 that the bitter border state rivalry will be played twice in the same season. The last time was 115 years ago. Every game in the series since 1929 has been played near the midway at the State Fair of Texas.

SEC

Nick Saban and Kirby Smart posed stiffly behind the trophy, forcing smiles for the cameras.

Saban whispered something in his former assistant’s ear, drawing a bit of a chuckle. Then, a quick handshake, and off they went in opposite directions.

It was a formality that had to wait until the last day of November. But, really, they could’ve done it months ago.

As soon as Alabama and Georgia walked off the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium almost 11 months ago — the Crimson Tide in triumph, the Bulldogs in despair — a rematch seemed inevitable.

Now, it’s here. On Saturday, at the very same place where the Tide captured the fifth national title of the Saban era, these two powerhouses will square off in another game with huge ramifications.

A Southeastern Conference championship is on the line, as well as a trip to the College Football Playoff.

“We certainly want to win every game that we play,” said Saban, who is trying to guide the No. 1 Crimson Tide (12-0, 8-0 SEC, No. 1 CFP) to its sixth national title in the last decade — perhaps the greatest dynasty that college football has ever seen and not far off the seemingly impossible standard he sets for his program.

Fourth-ranked Georgia (11-1, 7-1, No. 4 CFP) is eager to start a dynasty of its own.