The Rarity of No. 1 vs. No. 2
Just four regular-season matchups between No. 1 and No. 2-ranked teams have gone down in the FBS during the 21st Century:
Ohio State at Texas, Sept. 2006: I’m not sure if I’m applying my own perspective too much here, but this feels like the most forgotten of the quartet; Ohio State cruised to a 24-7 win, asserting its place at the top of the polls all the way up to and through another 1 vs. 2 showdown later in the year.
Michigan at Ohio State, Nov. 2006: The lead-up to and immediate aftermath of this were insufferable due to the early incarnations of the Embrace Debate era pushing a rematch in the BCS Championship Game.
In retrospect, it’s sort of endearing to recall a time when college football punditry wasn’t an arm of the SEC propaganda machine. What’s more, this one actually lived up to its Game of the Century billing, delivering a 42-39 instant classic — which was quickly overshadowed by both teams being dump-trucked in their bowl games, beginning an almost decade-long dark age for the Big Ten.LSU at Alabama, Nov. 2011: I hate this game with a fury I cannot accurately articulate. This marks the symbolic beginning of national fatigue with the SEC, as LSU’s 9-6 win in overtime proved ultimately inconsequential when Alabama got a BCS Championship rematch. The Tide’s dominance in the return contest doesn’t change the fact that Oklahoma State deserved the spot, winning more games against ranked competition that regular season.
Instead, the Cowboys were punished for losing a Friday night game immediately after friends and classmates from their athletic department died in a plane crash. OK, that’s perhaps melodramatic — Oklahoma State wasn’t punished quite as much for losing to Iowa State as it was for having the temerity to play in a conference that wasn’t the SEC.
As for the game itself, it’s become fashionable in recent years to retcon this game as some classic, due in part to the collection of defensive talent on the field. And, indeed, the 2011 Alabama defense ranks among the all-time greatest. But don’t let anyone tell you what you can see with your own eyes: These offenses played a putrid game, and special-teams performance was arguably even worse. It’s an awful game that had awful consequences, and I place a considerable portion of blame for creation of the joyless College Football Playoff on the deserved backlash to this matchup.
LSU at Alabama, Nov. 2019: LSU’s 46-41 win in a wild shootout was the Dorian Grey painting of the previous 1 vs. 2 between these programs. Joe Burrow won the Heisman on this day, and the kind of people who had spent the previous decade declaring 9-6 slogs were real football had to pretend they’d always embraced uptempo, spread style.
So that’s four games in the entire 21st Century — and there have been six regular-season 1 vs. 2 matchups in the FBS/former Div. I-A overall since the FCS had its last.
Saturday is something of a Football Solar Eclipse Day with two No. 1 vs. No. 2 contests: In FCS, North Dakota State welcomes South Dakota State to Fargodome for the first regular-season encounter of top-ranked teams in 30 years.
In fact, Saturday’s Dakota Marker rivalry contest is just nine days shy of falling on the exact 30th anniversary. Friend of The Press Break Craig Haley has the list — a very short one — that includes a 27-26 win for No. 1 Northern Iowa over No. 2 Idaho in October 1992.
Several names you might know participated in that game: Idaho’s head coach was a pre-self-slapping, pre-SMILE John L. Smith, and the Vandals quarterback was Doug Nussmeier — the only one of Nick Saban’s last four offensive coordinators not to move onto a head-coaching job.
Quarterbacking Northern Iowa was Jay Johnson, current offensive coordinator at Michigan State. His backup? None other than Kurt Warner.
Here’s the Des Moines Register Sports section the following day, with No. 1 vs. No. 2 as the above-the-fold story.
Both the Panthers and Vandals were excellent: UNI won the Gateway Conference and entered the Div. I-AA Playoffs as the No. 2 overall seed. Idaho dropped another regular-season game to rival Montana, losing The Little Brown Stein (which Idaho and Montana play for this weekend!) but the Vandals claimed a share of the Big Sky championship.
Neither advanced to the National Championship Game, though. Jim Tressel’s Youngstown State dynasty advanced to face Marshall for the second in their title-game trilogy with an upset of Northern Iowa.
Idaho dropped a heartbreaking upset at home in the 1st Round to McNeese.
This year’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup has a similar aura to me. Yes, North Dakota State is the juggernaut of FCS and should be treated as No. 1 until an opponent can prove otherwise. A lethargic win last week at Indiana State suggests this year’s Bison have vulnerabilities most of the national title-winning teams lacked.
South Dakota State — which, full disclosure, I have voted third pretty consistently on my FCS ballot behind Montana — may have bridged the gap between it and North Dakota State in recent years. The Jackrabbits claimed the Dakota Marker a season ago, and won in their last visit to Fargodome (albeit with limited fan attendance due to COVID-19).
Perhaps the national champion will emerge from this contest — the odds are certainly in your favor if you were to bet on one or other. For the first time in a long time though, it doesn’t feel like a certainty.
Saturday’s other No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup, on the other hand, gives off de facto national championship vibes.
Defending champ and top-ranked Ferris State hosts rival Grand Valley, undefeated and second-ranked. Ferris State has dominated the series in recent years, but this year’s GVSU squad has been squashing opponent after opponent.
And yes, that includes competition much stiffer than the suspicious Lincoln Oaklanders.
Div. II has a number of still-undefeated teams, including Angelo State and a Shepherd team with reigning Harlon Hill Trophy (the D-II Heisman) winner Tyson Bagent posting big numbers. Delta State has emerged as the surprise of the always-tough Gulf South Conference.
With Div. II hosting a traditional playoff, these teams and more will get a crack at either the Bulldogs or Lakers to prove their worthiness. Until then, though, these look like the two best teams in their division.
If nothing else, the winner is guaranteed a trophy: The Anchor-Bone is awarded to the rivalry’s winner each season. The cup recognizes each program’s mascot with an Anchor for Lakers and Bone for Bulldogs.
I’ve done the whole GameDay passing on fascinating, lower-division matchups in favor of tired Power Five destinations rant before, so I won’t belabor the point: But good grief, what a whiff visiting Knoxville for a second time this season instead of using the platform to showcase a rare No. 1 vs. No. 2 game and explore a new layer of college football.
Oh, well. Regardless, a Saturday with a meeting of the top-ranked teams is rare; odds of two on the same Saturday are astronomically low.