Fiesta Bowl Showdown vs. Notre Dame Gives Ohio State Plenty to Play for

COLUMBUS, Ohio — For four of the previous six years of his head coaching career, Urban Meyer spent college football's championship weekend not on the couch, but rather on the sideline, and in direct control of his teams' national-title aspirations.

So while enough chaos seemed possible over this past weekend for Ohio State to backdoor its way into the four-team College Football Playoff, you'll have to excuse the Buckeyes head coach for not being comfortable with feeling like a lame duck.

On Sunday, after it was revealed Ohio State did not in fact make this year's playoff, effectively ending its national-title defense, Meyer said that he didn't waste much time the day prior rooting for upsets across the country.

"I didn't watch. I was up and walking around. [I'd] watch a couple minutes here and there. Hard to watch," Meyer said. "It's hard for me to enjoy football because I start getting notebooks out and start thinking about this and that...you second-guess and overanalyze everything. It's difficult."

While Meyer's disappointment on Sunday was apparent—as much as he did his best to disguise it—the reality remains that the 2015 Buckeyes still have one more matchup left on their slate, a New Year's Day meeting with No. 8 Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.

And although it won't be the trophy Ohio State set out to play for at the start of the season, there will still be plenty on the line when the Buckeyes meet the Fighting Irish in Glendale, Arizona, next month.

History

This season may already be considered a disappointment for some in Columbus, given that Ohio State returned 15 starters from last season's national-title team and was the first ever unanimous No. 1 team in the preseason AP Top 25. But while 2015 may not have gone according to plan—thanks to a Nov. 21 hiccup against Michigan State—a win in the Fiesta Bowl would only add to some of the most storied legacies in Buckeyes history.

That rings especially true for Ohio State's senior class, which has accumulated a 49-4 record dating back to the 2012 season. A victory against Notre Dame would mark the Buckeyes seniors' 50th win, a program record that Meyer will use as motivation for his team in the coming month.

"That takes your breath away a little bit," Meyer said of his seniors' win total. "You win 50 games over four years, that's pretty outstanding."

Should the Ohio State seniors do just that, it would mark another accomplishment on what's already been an impressive run. In the past four years—OSU's first four under Meyer—the Buckeyes have enjoyed an undefeated season in 2012, a program-record 24-game winning streak from 2012-13, the first ever College Football Playoff championship in 2014 and a 23-game winning streak from 2014-15.

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

These aren't just fourth- and fifth-year players riding the coattails of their more talented underclassmen teammates either.

Left tackle Taylor Decker and linebacker Joshua Perry are each three-year starters who contributed as true freshmen in 2012. Defensive tackle Adolphus Washington and center Jacoby Boren were each starters on last year's national-title team. Tight end Nick Vannett has essentially been a starter or co-starter throughout his college career and caught a touchdown pass in last year's national-title game.

Oh, and Braxton Miller is a two-time Big Ten MVP who served as the primary—and sometimes only—offensive threat on the Buckeyes roster as a quarterback in 2012 and 2013, before a shoulder injury forced a move to wide receiver in 2015. Technically, Miller's injury-induced absence in 2014 would exclude him from the senior class' record (Ohio State went 6-7 his freshman season in 2011), but of all of the legacies on this OSU roster, his is the most celebrated.

And then there's the Buckeyes' junior class, which may not get the opportunity to match their seniors' mark next season as many Ohio State underclassmen are expected to be playing in the final games of their college careers against the Fighting Irish. Star running back Ezekiel Elliott has already stated he'll be turning pro at season's end, defensive end Joey Bosa and quarterback Cardale Jones have each indicated they'll likely be doing the same and wide receiver Michael Thomas, linebacker Darron Lee, safety Vonn Bell and cornerback Eli Apple will each have similar decisions to make in the coming weeks.

Nothing—even a second loss on the season—will take away from what these players have already accomplished. Still, it'd be ideal to end such storied careers on a high note in the desert.

"I think that should be the mindset and it’s going to be," said sophomore quarterback J.T. Barrett of sending the Buckeyes' seniors out with a win. "I’m going to make sure."

Midwest Pride

Although it will be Michigan State representing the Big Ten in the College Football Playoff, this year's Fiesta Bowl will serve as a showdown between two of the most storied programs in not only the Midwest, but all of college football. Between the two of them, Ohio State and Notre Dame claim 19 national championships (OSU eight, Notre Dame 11) and 14 Heisman trophies (seven apiece).

The uniqueness of the matchup between the two teams that haven't played since the 2006 Fiesta Bowl—and a home-and-home series in 1995 and 1996 before that—has hardly been lost on Meyer, who sees this season's Fiesta Bowl as one of the bowl season's premier games.

"Two legendary programs," he said of the Buckeyes and the Fighting Irish. "A great bowl game."

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

There might not be anybody more familiar with the legacies of both Ohio State and Notre Dame than Meyer, a devout Catholic who grew up a fan of the Fighting Irish before serving as their wide receivers coach from 1996-2000. The Ashtabula, Ohio, native's affinity for Notre Dame has been well-documented, having once considered it his "dream job" as a head coach.

"There were two places near and dear to my heart my entire life," Meyer said. "That was Ohio State and Notre Dame. I spent five years there. My son was born and baptized there. We loved it. It is very near and dear to our heart. It’s a great place."

While the Fighting Irish have had three different full-time head coaches since Meyer was last a part of Bob Davie's staff, Notre Dame—like Ohio State—has consistently been one of the country's top programs for the better part of the last half-decade. Since being hired in South Bend in 2010, head coach Brian Kelly has accumulated a 55-22 record, including an appearance in the BCS National Championship Game at the end of the 2012 season.

This year, the Fighting Irish remained in contention for a playoff spot until a loss to Stanford in the final week of the regular season. On Sunday, Meyer gave credit to Kelly for returning Notre Dame to national prominence after the end of Charlie Weiss' disappointing tenure in South Bend.

"He has put Notre Dame back where it belongs and that is one of the top five football programs in the country," Meyer said. "They have excellent personnel. He has stabilized a great football program."

One win or loss—even in a bowl game—won't do much for either program in terms of recruiting or establishing a pecking order between the two in the Midwest. But the momentum could prove to be valuable, as both teams expect to be right back in thick of the playoff picture come 2016.

Validation

The talent on this year's Ohio State team is indisputable and the roster's career accomplishments speak for themselves, but when it comes to the Buckeyes being left out of the College Football Playoff, they have no one to blame but themselves.

With just two ranked games on their schedule, Ohio State lost one of the matchups it couldn't afford to lose, surrendering control of the Big Ten East to the eventual conference champion Spartans with its 17-14 loss to Michigan State in Columbus. The Buckeyes bounced back with a 42-13 dismantling of rival Michigan the following week, but questions still remain about the merits of this Ohio State squad.

With a matchup with the nation's eighth-ranked team looming, the Buckeyes have one last opportunity to answer any doubts.

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press/Associated Press

"Finish what you start. What are we, 11-1?" Meyer said. "We've gotta find a way to get our 12th win."

It wouldn't quite rectify Ohio State's lone loss of the season and, based on Meyer's body language, that one's going to sit with him for a while. But there would be a big difference in how the Buckeyes' 2015 season will be viewed should it include just one loss on the year as opposed to two against two of the only three nationally ranked opponents on Ohio State's schedule.

Win, and the defeat at the hands of the Spartans will look like an aberration. Lose, and this past year will undoubtedly be considered a disappointment, regardless of the lofty expectations with which the Buckeyes entered the season.

It may not be what Ohio State once expected to have on the line this postseason. But there's still plenty to be gained—and a lot left to lose—in the lone game left in the Buckeyes' 2015 campaign.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.