Take a look at the No. 1 spot. The coach whose name has been synonymous with that number, that elite place, is no longer there.

Welcome, everyone, to the beginning of the end of Nick Saban’s hold on college football. Or at least a move to No. 2 in the annual Sporting News ranking of college coaches.

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The new No.1 — after three years of Saban on top — is the same guy who left the game as its best coach in 2010, only to return a year later and start over. Urban Meyer finally caught up to Saban again, and this time returned the favor that had haunted him since 2009.

“The last time we played those guys, it was not pretty,” Meyer said about Florida’s loss to Alabama in the 2009 SEC Championship Game. "Lot of bad memories.”

Meyer still believes that Florida team could have won it all were it not for the loss to Alabama. That’s what makes Ohio State’s 2014 run to the national title — including a win over Alabama and Saban in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff — that much sweeter.

Meyer jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 in SN’s annual ranking after the Buckeyes won the national title, after he won for the 38th time in 41 career games at Ohio State.

Think about this: Meyer has been a head coach for 13 seasons, and his teams have won five conference championships and three national titles. He also has two unbeaten seasons that accounted for essentially nothing (2004 at Utah, 2012 at Ohio State).

Take away Meyer’s final season at Florida in 2010 (8-5 record), and he has lost five games in the other five seasons since 2008 (and won three national titles).

While Saban’s numbers are just as impressive, understand this: Saban, despite landing the top recruiting class for the last five years (or more, depending on which service you’re using), has lost some of his mojo in big games.

The trend line is clearly rising for Meyer, and flat for Saban. A look at the overall 1-128 ranking: