A brief history of No. 1 vs No. 2 in conference championship games

No. 2 Indiana football is set to take on No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday at the Big Ten Football Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The game will make history for several reasons. For one, its Indiana’s first berth in the conference championship game and will be a chance to win the Big Ten for the first time since 1967. For another, it’ll be the first time the Big Ten Championship is a meeting between the No.1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the country.

This matchup, usually stylized as a “Game of the Century” has taken place a few times in the regular season these past few years but rarely occurs in the conference championship. The last time it happened, Urban Meyer was still at Florida and Nick Saban hadn’t yet won his first title at Alabama.

No. 1 and No. 2 have met twice in a conference title game, with both occurrences coming in the SEC Championship game and both involving Meyer’s Florida and Saban’s Alabama.

Interestingly for Indiana, both matchups ended in a victory for No. 2. Here’s how they went down:

2009: No. 2 Florida vs No. 1 Alabama

Saban and the Crimson Tide brought an end to Meyer and Tim Tebow’s run of success at Florida with a resounding 32-13 win in the 2009 SEC Championship Game.

Tebow, a former Heisman trophy winner, proved largely ineffective against a stout Alabama defense. He scored a single touchdown through the air and was contained on the ground as the Tide held the Gators to just 88 rushing yards on the game. On the other sideline, Alabama’s running backs ran straight through the Florida defense for 251 rushing yards and three scores, all from soon-to-be Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram II.

Alabama went on to beat Texas 37-21 in the 2010 BCS National Championship game.

2008: No. 1 Alabama vs No. 2 Florida

2009’s game was flip from 2008’s. It was No. 1 Alabama that couldn’t contain No. 2 Florida, especially Tebow, who threw three touchdown passes and picked up 57 yards with his legs.

The Crimson Tide entered the half down 17-10 before scoring 10 in the third to take a 20-17 lead over the Gators. Florida retook the lead early in the fourth quarter and cemented it with a late touchdown pass from Tebow before interception Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson with less than two minutes to go.

Florida went on to beat Oklahoma 24-14 in the 2009 BCS National Championship game.