Ohio State Football: Who are the Top 5 rivals?

4. Alabama

Jan 1, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Cardale Jones (12) against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the fourth quarter in the 2015 Sugar Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

As long as Urban Meyer is the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes and Nick Saban is the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide the two teams will be compared to each other.

The Buckeyes currently have the upper hand in this rivalry, but this rivalry is more between two competitive head coaches who are used to being the top guy.

It does help these two schools are two of the greatest college football programs in the history of the sport, plus it doesn’t hurt this rivalry has a North vs. South feel to it (SEC vs. Big Ten).

The two teams can only meet this upcoming season if they square off in the College Football Playoff, just like they did in Ohio State’s pursuit of their most recent national championship.

In an article this past week on FoxSports.com (no author named) it quoted Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart saying the Crimson Tide “did not respect” Cardale Jones.

"“And looking back, we have exit interviews with our players, and when you look in hindsight, I asked every kid, Landon Collins, Nick Perry, Jarrick Williams, the really smart seniors on our team, I said … ‘Where did we go wrong? What did we do wrong? All three of them said they did not respect the quarterback, and our job as the coaches was to make them respect the quarterback.”"

I believe a big part of this rivalry is respect.

The coaches have respect for each other as they are two very successful head coaches each with three national championships. In the playoff, the then-top of the mountain Crimson Tide didn’t respect the Buckeyes, and with OSU winning 42-35, they made Alabama respect them for not only that season, but for years to come.

Let’s all hope these two teams can meet on the biggest stage once again this season in the College Football Playoff.

Next: No. 3: We are ...?