Oregon and Ohio State will square off Monday night in the first College Football Playoff national championship game.

It's Buckeyes vs. Ducks. Tradition vs. Cutting-edge. Heisman trophy winner vs. third-string gunslinger.

"It's college football history," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said Sunday in Dallas during a news conference with Oregon coach Mark Helfrich. The new championship trophy was perched between them.

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Oregon (13-1), led by Heisman winner Marcus Mariota, has been a perennial powerhouse over the past two decades with his high-octane offense and flashy uniforms. But the school has yet to win a national title.

Ohio State (13-1) will turn once again to sophomore Cardale Jones after injuries sidelined its top two quarterbacks. The Buckeyes are gunning for their 8th national championship and the first under Meyer, who guided Florida to two national titles.

The 2014 college football season ends Monday night when the Oregon Ducks face the Ohio State Buckeyes for the right to be crowned champions. The first ever College Football Playoff will feature these two after they won New Year's Day to advance to the championship game.

Oregon enters the game at 13-1 after winning the Pac-12 and then routing the defending-champion Seminoles in the Rose Bowl. The Ducks are lead by Heisman-winning QB Marcus Mariota, who has started every game of his career since he was a redshirt freshman while tossing a touchdown pass in every game. He's also gone 36-4 and is on pace for the lowest interception percentage in college football history with just 13 interceptions on 1,130 attempts.

As for the Buckeyes, they too enter this game at 13-1, though their road is one few teams will ever travel. Now on their third-string QB, the Buckeyes have battled adversity all season to get to this point. No one saw them making the title game until their 42-35 win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Redshirt sophomore Cardale Jones was outstanding in both the Big Ten championship game rout of Wisconsin and playoff semifinal win over Alabama. In those two games, Jones threw four touchdown passes, averaged 276 yards of total offense and turned the ball over just once.