JACKSONVILLE — Merely five years ago, these were the two best teams in the country.
They were facing each other in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game, where No. 2 Florida upset No. 1 Ohio State 41-14 to claim Urban Meyer's first title with the Gators.
Now both programs are upside down. Neither is ranked. Whichever team wins the Gator Bowl on Monday will send the other to its first losing record in decades.
Meyer, who held up the crystal championship trophy for Florida that night in Glendale, Ariz., is plotting to capture one for Ohio State, although he will not begin coaching the Buckeyes until after this game.
The 2007 game and the Meyer move - combined with the Florida basketball team beating Ohio State later in 2007 for the NCAA championship - have created a semi-rivalry between two schools that are 800 miles apart, play in different conferences and have only been on the same football field one time in their combined 227 years of existence.
"That's the beauty of college football. Whether you play a team in a bowl game or you recruit against them or play against them in other sports, you develop some of those little rivalries," Ohio State interim coach Luke Fickell said.
Along with their mutual connection to Meyer, these prestigious programs are sharing historic misery. Florida (6-6) had its first sub-.500 record in the SEC in 25 years and is trying to save itself from its first losing season since 1979. The lone highlight for that team, which went 0-10-1, was forcing a 7-7 tie against Georgia Tech.
Clearly this year's Gators are not that bad, but the fact that 1979 is even being mentioned shows how far they have dropped in the past two seasons.
As frustrating as life has been for Florida coach Will Muschamp, who remains adamant that he can fix the Gators' problems quickly, the job has been even tougher for Fickell. Like Muschamp, he inherited a depleted roster. He also was in the tenuous position of knowing he would only hold the title of head coach for a few months.
He had to steer Ohio State through the wake of a tattoo parlor scandal and the forced resignation of former coach Jim Tressel. Now he will accept a demotion to become a co-defensive coordinator under Meyer.
For the Buckeyes, losing five players because of suspensions, including starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor, was a bigger hit than losing Tressel.
In a move that might have been sparked by the looming suspension, Pryor turned pro early. The other four players - Mike Adams, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey and Solomon Thomas - came back and sat out the first five games this season. Adams, Herron and Posey are starters.
During the five-game suspensions, Ohio State lost to Miami and Michigan State. The Buckeyes turned to true freshman quarterback Braxton Miller four games into the season, and he did not exceed 95 yards passing in any of his first six starts.
"It's been a growing process for all of us," offensive lineman Mike Brewster said. "Just handling this situation - a win against Florida would be a great way to end the year."
Beating the Gators would push Ohio State's streak of winning seasons to 23. It would give the Buckeyes some closure as they finish one of the darkest chapters in their history.
It would also be payback. Even though the stakes in this game are not nearly as high as they were in 2007, a win over Florida would feel like triumph - and revenge.
"Fans are going to say that," said Brewster, a native of Florida who played at Edgewater High School in Orlando. "I've got tons of friends that go to Florida, so I know there's lots of bragging rights on the line. For our program as a whole, this would be an incredible win."
