It's very rare that in college football, we're treated to a matchup between the two highest ranked teams in the Country. This weekend, we'll get to watch two unbeatens face off in the #1 12-0 Ohio State Buckeyes and the #2 12-0 Indiana Hoosiers in a clash for the Big Ten Championship Game. In what should be the most talked about game of the season, we've seen little to no buzz about a monumental game.
The biggest story in college football this week has been the coaching carousel as Lane Kiffin hijacked the spotlight while the future of other programs like Penn State remain uncertain. We've also seen the Early Signing Period, and debates about the latest College Football Playoff rankings get far more attention than the Big Ten Championship Game.
Ohio State Vs Indiana deserves far more attention than it's receiving
When you consider the stakes of this matchup, and what it could mean for the sport, the fact that this game isn't dominating the headlines is pretty shocking. Maybe part of the reason is that in the expanded 12-Team College Football Playoff format, it's hard to push the importance of a game, but this matchup is truly special.
Indiana gets the biggest shot to prove itself
The Indiana Hoosiers have become one of the biggest stories in the sport as Curt Cignetti has taken a program that was irrelevant in the landscape of the sport and brought them to back-to-back College Football Playoffs. This season has been far more impressive for Indiana as they've played a much tougher schedule, but beating Ohio State would be the biggest moment for the program.
Indiana is still the scrappy upstart, and beating one of the Blue-Bloods to give them their first loss in over a year would send a massive statement. A win for Indiana ends all questions about how good they truly are, and cements the Hoosiers as a new power as long as Curt Cignetti is at the helm.
Ohio State looks to continue their reign
Ever since the Buckeyes lost to Michigan last season, the Buckeyes have been on a revenge tour like we've never seen before. The Buckeyes went on a tear through the Playoff winning the National Championship, and they've backed it up with a 12-0 regular season. If Ryan Day leads this team to an undefeated season including a Big Ten Championship and back-to-back titles, it'd have to be considered one of the greatest runs in the history of the sport.
A battle for the Heisman Trophy
Two quarterbacks have stood out among everyone else this season in Ohio State's Julian Sayin and Indiana's Fernando Mendoza. This was expected from Julian Sayin as a former 5-star recruit, but Fernando Mendoza has looked like a whole new player at Indiana playing himself into likely being the first quarterback taken in the NFL Draft this offseason.
On Saturday Night, the Heisman voting begins meaning the voters will be fresh off of watching the Conference Championship games before casting their votes. If either quarterback plays well and leads their team to a win, they're almost going to be impossible to deny for the Heisman Trophy.
This game is a victim of a new era
In past years, a matchup between the two top teams like this would've been the talk of the sport, but the sport has since changed. The expanded College Football Playoff field has made a game like Georgia Vs Alabama more exciting as a loss by the Crimson Tide could cost Alabama their Playoff bid while everyone knows both the Hoosiers and Buckeyes are in. The harsh reality is that by expanding the field, games of this magnitude are going to become footnotes in the season as a result moving forward.