NEW ORLEANS - Alabama is No. 1, essentially the home team and college football's top program over the last six seasons. Oddsmakers have made the Crimson Tide a 9-point favorite in Thursday night's Sugar Bowl.
Ohio State knows all of this. In fact, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer will address it directly with his players.
"(Being the underdog) has really not been a big part of conversation with our team, (but) probably the next two days it will be," Meyer said Wednesday morning. "Because now the work week is done and we're getting our minds right."
The Sugar Bowl is a national semifinal, and the big prize Ohio State chased last year before faltering is a game away. Meyer always asks around and tries to take his team's temperature before games, but he has a feeling he knows the answer this time.
"I don't feel like we're going to have to rock the boat to get them fired up to play the game," Meyer said. "This is a motivated team right now."
As for Ohio State's underdog status, it comes with the territory.
"It's not something we bat an eye at," Buckeyes linebacker Darron Lee said. "We were underdogs in the Big Ten Championship Game and won 59-0."
Said Buckeyes defensive tackle Michael Bennett: "I feel like ever since I've been here, when it comes to a big game, for whatever reason we're always the underdog, For whatever reason, (people) decided that Ohio State shouldn't win that game. So the reasons that they have now are that Alabama is in the SEC and Ohio State's in the Big Ten. So I mean if that's your reason that we're the underdog, go for it, because I mean it all comes down to how each team plays on Thursday."
Saying Ohio State's history vs. teams from the SEC is a little one-sided is like saying New Orleans will be a little wild for New Year's Eve.
This Ohio State team is 0-0 vs. the SEC.
"The mentality I think we've taken is that you have to beat the best to be the best," Ohio State linebacker Joshua Perry said. "Alabama has been the best for a while. Their spot or status, however you look at it, has been earned. We come in as the underdog and they come in as No. 1, but it's the semifinal. Nobody got here by accident.
"It's going to be two brand-name programs going at it in a great game, in a great setting. We'll see what happens Thursday night."
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