Eight years ago, Urban Meyer's No. 2-ranked Florida team was a seven-point underdog to top-ranked Ohio State in the BCS National Championship.
The Buckeyes entered the game with an unblemished 12-0 record. They were picked by almost everyone to beat the 12-1 Gators.
But sometimes, things don't always go as planned. Florida won handily, 41-14.
The stories of Meyer fueling his team with underdog talk leading up to that game are well-documented.
"Big," Meyer said with a wry smile when asked about it last week. "We're not there yet. We'll see what kind of team we have. That was over the top."
Meyer, now coaching the Buckeyes, is in a similar situation in 2014. His fourth-ranked Ohio State team is a nine-point underdog to No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
It's not a role Meyer has been in very often in his three years with the Buckeyes, but it's one he's thrived in. In fact, he's never lost as an underdog at Ohio State.
It's happened twice this season: The Buckeyes were four-point underdogs back on Nov. 8 when they traveled to East Lansing to play Michigan State. Ohio State won, 49-37. The Buckeyes were also four-point underdogs against Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. That result? A 59-0 Ohio State victory.
"He knows how good this team is. He’s talked all year about how we’ve gotten better each week," wide receiver Devin Smith said of Meyer's motivating tactics. "He told us don’t worry about what other people have to say because they aren't here in winter when we’re working out, they’re not here in summer when we’re running sprints. He believes we’re not an underdog and he wants us to go show people we’re not an underdog."
With all due respect to the Spartans and Badgers, this Alabama team is a different animal.
The Crimson Tide have been the pinnacle of college football over the last five years winning three national championships. Alabama head coach Nick Saban is the only coach in the country with more national titles than Meyer.
Still, though, the Buckeyes are adamant they will keep their preparation for this game the same.
"It is just the same approach, I don't think they are going to change their approach," Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott said. "We attack every game the same way. We have been underdogs this season when a lot of people have not believed in us and if it was losing Braxton (Miller) or losing J.T. (Barrett), a lot of people had lost faith in us and all we have is each other right now. Keep this brotherhood together and we are going to keep grinding and keep pushing."
Meyer will likely not admit before Jan. 1 he did anything out of the ordinary to motivate his team. But make no mistake about it, he's well-aware of his team's underdog status against the Crimson Tide and will try to once again prove everyone wrong.
The Buckeyes seem to be embracing that role yet again.
“The big thing is not what they’re saying about us being underdogs but the fact we are underdogs that he will use to motivate us," Ohio State linebacker Joshua Perry said. "We don’t know a ton of what everybody is saying, we just know they are saying it. He uses that just to get guys excited. Nobody wants to be an underdog and get their butt kicked. You want to be an underdog and prove people wrong."
