NEW ORLEANS – Both college football analysts on ESPN, Lou Holtz and Mark May are paid to discuss their unbiased, wide-ranging opinions about the sport on the air.

They disagree a lot, especially when it comes to Ohio State.

Holtz, a Notre Dame coaching legend, typically has been pro-Ohio State this year while May, a former player at Pittsburgh, has been down on the Buckeyes and the Big Ten.

As No. 4 Ohio State prepares to take on No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl – a semifinal game in the inaugural College Football Playoff – Holtz didn't mind boasting a little about being right about the Buckeyes this year.

"Mark May is a great guy – We have no teleprompter, no script, no rehearsal, but we have a difference opinion," Holtz said. "I love him, but he was a player, I was a coach. He made suggestions, I made decisions. He showered after work, I showered before work. I signed the paycheck on the front, he signed the back.

"We just have a different way of looking at things."

During a segment called "Final Verdict" on ESPN's College Football Final, Holtz bantered with May about whether or not the Big Ten would have a team in the playoff and whether Ohio State had a shot of cracking the top four.

In those segments, co-host Rece Davis, dressed like a judge, rules either in favor of Holtz or May. Both times, May, who said Ohio State and the Big Ten were out of the College Football Playoff hunt, got the ruling.

Holtz hasn't forgotten.

"I lost two 'Final Verdicts' and doggone it both of them turned out that Rece was wrong," Holtz said. "No. 1 the Big Ten would have somebody in (the playoff) and Ohio State had a chance. Both times he ruled against me."

As for why May tends to have an anti-Big Ten opinion – something many Ohio State fans feel is a trend – Holtz decided to sidestep that question.

"You would have to ask Mark May," Holtz said. "One thing I learned, I don't speak for Mark May. I have a hard time speaking for Lou Holtz."