Ohio State entered the second semifinal of the first ever college football playoffs as a substantial underdog. After all, the Buckeyes had been in this position before - in the finally-defunct BCS - and had lost nearly every time, always to an SEC foe. In back-to-back season, OSU lost big to both Florida (2006) and LSU (2007).

Not only that the Buckeyes, despite coming off a 59-0 shutout of Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game, were sending their third string quarterback out against the indomitable Tide, the pride and joy of the supreme SEC West, lauded as the best and deepest half conference in the country and home to five of the last seven national championship trophies (not including Florida, which hails from the less famous SEC East).

Simply stated, from a popular opinion standpoint, the Buckeyes stood very little chance against Alabama and its iconic coach, Nick Saban, in what was sure to be another championship game berth for the Tide.

In the end, however, the Buckeyes proved to be up to the Herculean task of dispatching the Tide and their elephants and their houndstooth hats. Yes indeed, after an interception of a Bama Hail Mary as the clock read 0:00, Ohio State found itself on the business end of a 42-35 victory - and a trip to face Oregon in the inaugural College Football Championship Game on January 12 in Dallas, Texas.

Despite the final outcome, it appeared early on that the prognosticators were dead on in their assessment of the Buckeyes. Although OSU moved the ball effectively against the Bama defense throughout the first quarter, they had very little to show for it on the scoreboard, as they settled for a pair of field goals after having two different goal-to-go scenarios.

Alabama meanwhile was being, well, Alabama, running the ball at will with Derrick Henry T.J. Yeldon and taking advantage of Heisman Trophy candidate wide receiver Amari Cooper through the air. The Tide rolled to an early 21-6 lead on a trio of touchdowns by the abovementioned Bama players.

However, Ohio State, which  had been outgaining the Tide, finally began putting the ball in the end zone. An Ezekiel Elliot three-yard score trimmed Alabama’s lead to 8 before a trick-play halfback pass from Evan Spencer was hauled in by wideout Michael Thomas with just 12 ticks left in the first half.

With new life, and a new 21-20 score, the Buckeyes headed to the lockerroom having just hung 348 yards on the Bama defense, compared to just 140 for the Tide.

For the Alabama faithful there was an uneasiness in the Superdome as they watched their defense get gashed and their lead shrink to the smallest of margins.

"We really weren't stopping them. We had the momentum of the game because of the turnovers," Saban said. "We did not control the football game like we usually do."

OSU quarterback, Cardale Jones, who was taking over for Braxton Miller (shoulder) and J.T. Barrett (ankle), became the world’s most famous third string player at the end, but he looked every bit a clipboard master in the first quarter with an interception that set up one of Bama’s first half scores.

The second half belonged to the Buckeyes who rattled off 28 straight points to take a 34-21 lead. Jones found Devon Smith on a 47-yard bomb at the 12:44 mark followed by defensive lineman Steve Miller’s interception of a Blake Sims pass which he returned 41 yards for a score with just over three minutes left in the third quarter.. Alabama finally responded with a Blake Sims five-yard touchdown run on the next possession to trim the OSU lead to 34-28.

The scoring took a brief hiatus in the second of two college football semifinals, but the action remained as tense as ever. Alabama punter J.K. Scott was masterful and pinned the Buckeyes inside their 20 yard line five times leaving Jones and the OSU offense with very few options.

Ohio State was equally opportunistic as defensive back Vonn Bell picked off a Sims pass after the Tide benefitted from a shanked Buckeye punt that gave them the ball inside the OSU 40. The two second half INTs by Sims ultimately doomed the Tide.

Alabama seemed to regain some momentum in the fourth quarter after another precise punt by Scott that left the Buckeyes with the ball inside their own 5-yard line with just over five minutes left in the game. Jones converted a third and short with a spinning surge forward and Elliot essentially iced the game with an 85-yard touchdown run with only 3:24 left in the game.

Alabama would draw closer with a Cooper six-yard score but OSU snatched the subsequent on-side kick and intercepted Sims yet again on a last second Hail Mary as the clock ran out to seal the upset victory.

In his back-up-to-starter role, Jones was masterful. He finished with 243 yards through the air and another 43 on the ground to lead the Buckeyes attack. The sophomore known as “12-Gauge” was nearly perfect on third down helping OSU convert 10 of 18 opportunities. Elliot finished with a Sugar Bowl record 250 yards rushing.

Alabama, meanwhile, was awful on third down, moving the chains only twice in 13 attempts. Its vaunted defense gave up 537 total yards and nearly 300 on the ground to what was supposed to be a weaker Big Ten team.

Saban was more than willing to give his opponent credit afterwards.

"They're capable of playing with any team in the country,'' he said in the post-game press conference.

While Saban was left to wonder what could have been, OSU coach Urban Meyer overcame several past demons with the win against the Crimson Tide and earned yet another spot in a national title game. A two-time BCS victor with the Florida Gators, Meyer was able to do what his Buckeyes predecessor, Jim Tressel, was never able to do - beat an SEC team when it matters most.

"We're good enough," Meyer said afterwards. "Maybe the Big Ten is not that bad. Maybe it's pretty damn good.''

As expected, the rhetoric surrounding the OSU victory over Alabama is largely about Meyer and his ability to win the “big game.”

However, while the win over the #1 Tide is nothing short of amazing, Meyer and his troops have not climbed to the top of the college football mountain just yet. Waiting for the Buckeyes in Texas will be the Oregon Ducks, led by Heisman winner Marcus Mariota. The Pac-12 champions stand between Meyer and his ultimate return to college football - a third national title.

As sweet as the win over Alabama was and is, Ohio State has one more hurdle remaining to silence their doubters.

After both semifinal games, the winning teams sported T-shirts that read “Won, Not Done.”

Certainly, Meyer and his Buckeyes would like nothing more than to hoist the trophy next Monday night in AT&T Stadium and put an exclamation point on a season for the ages.

Either way, they have already done the unthinkable - end the SEC’s stranglehold on the college football title game.