Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza looks to pass the ball during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Purdue, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in West Lafayette, Ind. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana coach Curt Cignetti has been here before. Twice.

His second-ranked Hoosiers, just like first-ranked Ohio State, have not.

For the first time in more than a decade and just the third time since conference championship games were standardized, the nation’s top-ranked teams will play for a title.

The two previous top-ranked conference title games were in the Southeastern Conference in 2008-09 when Florida and Alabama went back to back.

Cignetti was on Nick Saban’s Alabama coaching staff. And, yes, experience could matter.

“A year late,” Cignetti joked after Indiana punched its ticket by routing Purdue. “I had the opportunity to be part of a couple of those at Alabama when we played Florida and (Tim) Tebow and Urban (Meyer) two years in a row. It’s going to be a great atmosphere. I think — no I know — you’re playing this game for a reason. A Big Ten championship means an awful lot.”

The Buckeyes (12-0) and Hoosiers (12-0) are in similar positions. The are playoff locks, with good chances at a first-round bye no matter what happens in Indianapolis on Saturday.

But the contrast between these programs couldn’t be starker.

Ohio State owns eight national championships, is closing in on program win No. 1,000 and has claimed at least three Big Ten crowns in every decade from the 1930s through 2010s.

Despite the steady parade of players from Columbus to the NFL, the Buckeyes watched the last four Big Ten title games from home — a drought that coincided with their four-game losing streak to dreaded Michigan. That streak ended last week and this week the defending national champs hope to fulfill another preseason goal by hoisting their first Big Ten trophy in five years.

“We’re excited we put ourselves in a position to have a chance to play for the Big Ten championship,” All-American Caleb Downs said. “We’re going to go at it with a lot of energy and put everything into it this week and then go play as well as we can Saturday.”

As a program, the Hoosiers are relative newcomers to the big stage.

They finally shed the label of the FBS’ losingest program last month, then completed the first perfect regular season in school history and are now seeking their third Big Ten title. The first came in 1945, the last in 1967, leaving Indiana tied with Minnesota for the conference’s longest active title drought.

The Hoosiers have an experienced roster with key players who have played for championships in previous stops and, oh yeah, Cignetti. They also can rely on the lessons learned from their only losses last season — at Ohio State and at national runner-up Notre Dame.

“We fell short in the moment,” first team all-conference linebacker Aiden Fisher said. “Coach Cignetti said it kind of got a little too big for us, and I think we went in with too much of an underdog mentality.”

There’s no reason to change that philosophy now in a contest that features the nation’s two stingiest scoring defenses, two of the nation’s top-15 scoring offenses, the nation’s two most efficient quarterbacks and major college football’s last two unbeaten teams.

“I don’t expect any handouts,” Cignetti said. “We’ve earned everything up to this point, and we’ve got to earn it on Saturday.”

SEC heavyweights

ATLANTA — After No. 3 Georgia closed an 11-1 regular season with its eighth straight win over Georgia Tech last week, coach Kirby Smart was asked about his senior class dominating its top rivals.

Smart replied with a reminder that Georgia Tech, Florida, Auburn and Tennessee do not form a complete list of the Bulldogs’ biggest rivals.

“You know, there’s other ones out there we haven’t beat,” Smart said.

Smart didn’t mention No. 10 Alabama. He didn’t have to.

Georgia players understand there’s unfinished business waiting in Saturday’s Southeastern Conference championship game. A win over Alabama (10-2, No. 9 CFP) is the glaring omission on the Georgia seniors’ four-year 50-5 record that includes the 2022 national championship and two SEC titles.

“Everybody knows the history of Georgia-Alabama,” said Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton. “I mean, it’s there.”

Indeed, there are reminders everywhere. Even in the pregame media notes prepared by Georgia (No. 3 CFP), there is a recap of the series entitled “The Elephant In The Room.”

Big Al casts a shadow Georgia has struggled to escape.

“Like, the team is pretty aware,” linebacker Raylen Wilson said.

Alabama will be playing for its first title with coach Kalen DeBoer. Alabama beat Georgia for its seventh SEC championship in 2023 with former coach Nick Saban.

Georgia fell to 1-7 against Alabama under Smart with a 24-21 loss on Sept. 27. It was the Bulldogs’ first home loss in six years. The Bulldogs are 0-3 in the series in the last four years, and that is including a 27-24 loss in the 2023 SEC championship game when Georgia was No. 1, undefeated and coming off back-to-back national championships.