Memorable night on tap for Buckeyes, Bearcats?

Ohio State vs. Cincinnati Saturday night at Ohio Stadium is not just another game for either program.

That's a pretty good starting point. That both teams are pretty good and capable of scoring quickly makes it better. That Ohio State comes off a bye week looking to overcome early adversity and enter Big Ten play on a high note makes it better, and that Cincinnati comes in with a whole bunch to gain and not really much to lose adds some sizzle, too.

Ohio State hasn't lost to an in-state opponent since 1921.

Cincinnati has eight starters who played high school football in Ohio but weren't recruited by the Buckeyes.

In the coming weeks, Cincinnati plays the likes of Tulane, SMU and South Florida. Ohio State, a blue-blood program that doesn't actually allow blue to be worn its facility, has lost one regular-season game under Urban Meyer and entered the year with legitimate thoughts of making the first College Football Playoff.

For a Cincinnati program left out of the latest conference shuffle and the new Power Five conference structure, there'd be no better way to make a national splash -- and possibly a lasting one -- than to win at Ohio State.

"This will be a challenge for us," Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville said. "This will be a measuring stick and I'm anxious to see how we match up."

Meyer played football at Cincinnati -- not much or very well, and not on any memorable teams -- before starting his coaching career. A revival of the Cincinnati program started in 2004 when Mark Dantonio left his job as an Ohio State assistant to take over, and in the years that followed Brian Kelly took the Bearcats to two BCS bowl games, one against Meyer at Florida, before going to Notre Dame. Butch Jones rode two big seasons to the job at Tennessee. Dantonio beat Ohio State last year in the Big Ten Championship Game with Michigan State.

This weekend's game might be Ohio State's biggest test until that Nov. 8 Michigan State rematch.

"Incredible coaching pedigree gone on down there last 20 years," Meyer said of Cincinnati. "We look at Cincinnati as top 25 program."

The Bearcats and highly-touted transfer quarterback Gunner Kiel are 2-0, having blown out Toledo and squeaked by Miami (Ohio). Ohio State is 2-1 and very much a work in progress but galaxies better than what Cincinnati has seen so far.

A crowd of more than 107,000 with all day to lube up before a 6 p.m. kickoff will be on hand.

"This is an Ohio State team that at the beginning of the year was picked to have an opportunity to possibly be in the top four teams (at the end of the season)," Tuberville said. "We would like to think we are (at their level)."

The Buckeyes lost quarterback Braxton Miller for the season and are still trying to iron things out on an offensive line that lost four starters from last season. Ohio State has plenty of young talent, much of it in the spotlight for the first time, and the spotlight is always on Meyer and Ohio State. For Tuberville, Kiel and Cincinnati, this represents a chance to stay in the spotlight and maybe boost the program for years to come.

"To say we get into a ton of recruiting battles with them, (no). We have a few," Meyer said. "As (the Bearcats) continue to elevate their game, which they have done, I can see that happening down the road."

It's the unofficial state championship game.

It's one that could, potentially, be talked about for years.

It figures to be pretty good.

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