USC may lose BCS title but Auburn is still feeling the burn
Tommy Tuberville banged the drum for his Auburn team after the Sugar Bowl, and rightfully so.
So we’ve already established that this is a major kegger day in Knoxville (click here for the updated USC story). The Lane Kiffin/Weenie Roast officially begins at 3 p.m., when the NCAA is scheduled to drop the probation hammer on USC.
But how do you feel today if you’re an Auburn fan? USC may get stripped of its 2004 BCS national championship, and the Tigers never were allowed to even play in that game, despite going through the season undefeated.
Is this a day for Auburn to feel vindicated or just angry?
Rewind to 2004: Auburn went 12-0 through the regular season but finished third in the BCS standings, behind USC and Oklahoma (which also went 12-0). To any SEC follower, the thought of going through the conference season undefeated and not winding up in the national title game is ludicrous. But the Tigers had to settle for the Sugar Bowl, and they defeated Virginia Tech, 16-14.
Auburn’s case for being in the BCS title game even was supported by Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, who said, “We started out playing Southern Cal and I believe this Auburn team is better.”
So you can imagine what the opinion was of Oklahoma — especially after the Trojans destroyed the Sooners, 55-19, to claim the title.
“Neither team is better than us,” Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville proclaimed. “We’ll play them anytime, anywhere.”
Never got that chance.
Now what? The BCS added to its bylaws in 2007 — after the NCAA began looking into potential violations at USC — that gives it the power to strip a championship from the winner. Quoting:
“When the NCAA or a conference makes a finding of violations … and imposes a sanction of forfeiture or vacation of contests in which an ineligible student-athlete participated, we will presume that vacation of participation in a BCS bowl game is warranted.”
This doesn’t mean the BCS (which is independent of the NCAA) is suddenly going to declare Oklahoma the winner and give Auburn a runner-up trophy. If it opts to strip USC, there just won’t be a champion listed for 2004.
Conversely, the Associated Press will not change its final rankings from that season: USC will remain No. 1 and Auburn (which drew three first-place votes) will be No. 2.
The Tigers probably deserve a little more than that.
But then, they also deserved more in 2004.
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301 comments Add your comment
Ochocinco
June 10th, 2010
5:55 pm
Can I be an Auburn mascot? Pretty please?
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
5:55 pm
“The media had it in for USC during that stretch.”
THAT is an UNDERSTATEMENT!
ESPN deemed Matt Leinert the greatest QB in the history of football.
The best line ever from the draft.
“MATT LEINERT ARRIVED IN A LIMO AND LEFT IN A CAB!”
LOLOLOLOLOL
OJ Simpson
June 10th, 2010
5:58 pm
You better watch what you’re sayin’ about the Trojans “Cheat on Trojans” boy!
Tom
June 10th, 2010
5:58 pm
Im out guys…good talk. WAR EAGLE. Thanks for the back up CHEAT. It’s hard arguing with illogical people. They just ignore all your points and move on.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
5:59 pm
Tom
It’s really fun making fun of people like aaron.
Beast from the East
June 10th, 2010
5:59 pm
Why are Dawg fans on here talking smack? Try winning something before you talk trash. Talk about penis envy!
Yes, Auburn should be PO’ed. Nothing is gonna change what happened, but they’ll probably always be bitter and rightfully so. Who knows what would have happened? You can’t say one team would have beaten the other. No one knows until the game is played…..unless it’s UF against UGA!!!!!! LOL
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
5:59 pm
OJ Simpson
Oh yeah! I forgot that mass murderers played football at USC.
KILL ON!
Mike
June 10th, 2010
6:01 pm
Cheat on-
My point was that Auburn was sort of given the message through the media that they needed to be the crap out of Alabama and UT in the SECCG if they wanted a shot. They didn’t do that and were crapped upon. Rigth after the UT game, ESPN got on the horn and said they deserved nothing while making excuses for USC struggling against UCLA. The media was hypocritical with their coverage and reporting but that’s what college football lives for.
You know, the pageantry of television channels having a direct impact in a sports postseason.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
6:01 pm
Beast from the East
Florida smacked Oklahomo in 2008. Auburn 2004 had the best defense hands down. Not to mention two awesome running backs and 3 great receivers. It would have been rad to see Caddy and Ronny run all over the no defense OU team.
WDE!
Undisputed
June 10th, 2010
6:02 pm
The 2004 Auburn Tigers were the greatest college football team of all time.
Beavis
June 10th, 2010
6:03 pm
He said penis. Tebow would not be happy… unless he’s circumcising it.
bamaguy
June 10th, 2010
6:11 pm
I am defending Auburn and UGA (it is a really bizarre day). Schools located in rural areas always have trouble selling out minor games. It is a fact of geography and the availability of hotel rooms. That is why Alabama played all home games except Homecoming in BIrmingham. Ole Miss did the same in Jackson. They only stopped doing that when the NCAA categorized those as “off campus” and you could no longer host recruits.
What is inexcusable is Tech’s inability to sell out their stadium sitting smack in the middle of the largest city in the South.
Dawg-pounder
June 10th, 2010
6:11 pm
You know what I don’t get. Dawg fans are ALWAYS griping about people on THEIR blogs who aren’t UGA fans (as if they owned them). This blog has absolutely NOTHING to do with UGA and most of the comments are from their fan base. Why do you think that is? They can dish it out, but they sure can’t take it!!!! Go to the JunkPile Blawg and talk about how great Richt is or Murray’s YouTube highlights or something. Men are talking over here!
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
6:13 pm
“They didn’t do that and were crapped upon. ”
Auburn beat Bama 21-13. They beat TN 34-10 in game one. They beat them again 38-28.
USC barely got passed UCLA 29-24. Was that a beat down? NOPE
Oklahomo beat Colorado. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
Neither opponent was ranked anywhere near the top 25.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
6:15 pm
“What is inexcusable is Tech’s inability to sell out their stadium sitting smack in the middle of the largest city in the South.”
Well, Tech students are too busy learning nuke technology to take back home to Pakistan…
Also, no one wants to get shot attempting to go to a football game.
bamaguy
June 10th, 2010
6:24 pm
And on an unrelated note: If the SEC representatives win all the Super Regionals, five of the eight teams in the College World Series will be SEC teams (AK, AL, USC (the real one), Vandy and FL).
SEC: Home of the Champions.
Regarding Tech: I attended the Bama/Tech final regional tournament baseball game. There were almost as many Bama fans there as Tech, and they were clearly more vocal and supportive.
Gatorbait 17-3
June 10th, 2010
6:30 pm
bamaguy
Couldn’t agree more—we may beat up on each other all year long, but when
an SEC is playing for a National Championship, all the SEC teams should be
behind them—I do hope it’s the Gators though, but I will root for any of the SEC team
that make to the final series.
GSU Eagle 91
June 10th, 2010
6:34 pm
At least Auburn avoided the embarrassment of getting beaten 55-19, or whatever the score was…USC had no equals on the gridiron that season….Too bad Reggie has caused this debacle for the program….
Ed
June 10th, 2010
6:37 pm
True, but…the major college football national championship is mythical anyway. It’s just a bragging rights thing. Auburn can simply start bragging that it was the legit national champion in ‘04. Auburn has as many NCAA -recognized national titles as does USC and everyone else: Zero.
Undisputed
June 10th, 2010
6:37 pm
All cheating aside. USC would not be a contender to beat Auburn in 2004. Auburn had the far superior team. Auburn plays in the SEC. USC plays in the Pac-10. To say USC might have even come CLOSE to giving Auburn a good game is ludicrous to anyone with a television.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
6:43 pm
“At least Auburn avoided the embarrassment of getting beaten 55-19″
USC cheated. Nuff said.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
6:43 pm
“USC plays in the Pac-10.”
Correction: USC plays in the Shat-10.
WarEagle30067
June 10th, 2010
7:09 pm
some points of interest:
1. Auburn played Citadel because Bowling Green backed out of their game with Auburn in 2004 to play Oklahoma instead. Even though Auburn then counteroffered with more money, they still would not honor their committment to playing Auburn. Auburn had no choice other than schedule Citadel.. What transpired in the decision of Bowling Green to play Oklahoma for less money remains a mystery.
2. Auburn lost in 2002 to USC in the final minutes. They were not dominated at any point during the game.
3. Auburn lost to USC 23-0 in 2003 yet the game was so close that USC had to keep their starters on the field throughout the whole game.
In both of those games USC scored two of the three lowest offensive points in those two years combined.. So you cannot say that USC bitch slapped Aubun.
It would have been nice to play USC to even our recor dto 2-2 vs USC but we did not get the opportunity.. As of getting the trophy or BCS championship title now does not affect me one way or the other.
chazzo
June 10th, 2010
7:16 pm
Cracks me up that the media darling has been a naughty little girl.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
7:25 pm
WarEagle30067
Stats mean nothing to the naysayers. I and others have posted the strength of schedule for all three teams and Auburn had a tougher schedule. Auburn would have killed OU by at least 14 to 20 points if they had played them. As for USC, who cares, USC cheated. End of story.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
7:26 pm
“As of getting the trophy or BCS championship title now does not affect me one way or the other.”
Nope, Auburn is better for it either way. At least we didn’t cheat and all of our players who went to the NFL still start.
That can’t be said for USC.
Spike
June 10th, 2010
7:30 pm
AU.. Fear the thumb in 2010.
unbiased, but come ON
June 10th, 2010
7:32 pm
If Auburn used the Alabama formula to calculate NCs, they would have 4. Fortunately for the Tigers, they have the ability to move on and look toward the future. I’m not even an Auburn fan, but have been to games there and in Tuscaloosa, where they play some sound clip of Bear Bryant inaudibly and drunkenly mumbling something about “winner.” Auburn and USC have one thing in common: they look ahead instead of living in history. Should Auburn be awarded the 04 NC? Probably. They did everything right. Will it happen? Unlikely. The most they have to hope for right now is a shared title with Oklahoma.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
7:33 pm
“Fear the thumb in 2010.”
Well yeah, you’ve had your thumb up your @ss for a long time. It probably smells pretty bad by now.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
7:34 pm
“The most they have to hope for right now is a shared title with Oklahoma.”
If there is a re-vote by the coaches/ap then Auburn will get it.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
7:35 pm
“If Auburn used the Alabama formula to calculate NCs, they would have 4.”
No, there’d be 8. Eight teams have been given some sort of NT.
T'VILLE DAWG
June 10th, 2010
7:35 pm
First let me thank you people for bringing this up again, I had finally let this one go, now I’m mad as hell all over again for the next few minutes.
bamaguy
June 10th, 2010
7:41 pm
Is a 2009 National Championship “living in history”?
Saban at National Championship celebration: This is not the end, it is only the beginning.
Dawg-pounder
June 10th, 2010
7:43 pm
Gump,
How ya been? Still fighting the good fight, I see!
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
7:47 pm
“Saban at National Championship celebration: This is not the end, it is only the beginning.”
Saban will bolt from Bama back to the NFL once Bama is put on probation for providing the players with goats for unmentionable sex acts.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
7:48 pm
“How ya been? Still fighting the good fight, I see!”
Oh fine. Thanks for asking.
Buckhead Bulldog
June 10th, 2010
7:49 pm
I watched both the AU/UGA game and AU/UT SECCG in person. AU beat the woof woof out of us and took care, real good care, of UT twice that year. I was sitting in row ten of the endzone during the SECCG, and when that AU offense was coming at me I was blown away with the O line and Jason Campbell along with Cadillac and Ronnie Brown coming at me. P O W E R F U L! No doubt in my mind who was #1.
Sic’ ‘em Dogs
Spike
June 10th, 2010
7:49 pm
Cheat on.. You have some mouth. Feelling a little inadequate these days? Only an AU d bag like you would wonder how my thumb smells. Maybe you should worry more about your team plaing better football, you boob.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
7:51 pm
Buckhead Bulldog
You’ll also remember that hit that was put on one of the dawg players. Guy didn’t get up for a looooooooooooong time.
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
June 10th, 2010
7:52 pm
“You have some mouth.”
Man oh man do you sound like the guy from “Deliverance.”
“Feelling a little inadequate these days?”
Grammar fail.
“Only an AU d bag like you would wonder how my thumb smells.”
Considering you’re talking about giving people a dirty sanchez……..
“Maybe you should worry more about your team plaing better football, you boob.”
Oh we’ll be just fine this year. Can you please learn how to spell simple words?
Spike
June 10th, 2010
7:56 pm
Cheat.. Thank you for illustrating my point perfectly. I’ll bet you are the only one on here who knows what a dirty sanchez is.
Beast from the East
June 10th, 2010
7:57 pm
Sorry, Spike but I thought about Deliverance too when I saw that mouth comment. I knew that one was coming.
Spike
June 10th, 2010
7:59 pm
Beast and Cheat.. You two need to get a room somewhere. You have a lot of the same interests.
Beast from the East
June 10th, 2010
8:03 pm
Spike,
You gotta admit that was funny. Just some good natured ribbing.
Lighten up, dude!
Buckhead Bulldog
June 10th, 2010
8:05 pm
CHEAT ON TROJANS!!!!!!
You mean this one? Yes, I remember. As matter of fact, whenever I want to get into a little football in the doldrums of Winter, I actually hit this Youtube video, amongst others. That was a HIT!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0Y9wt3XkHo&feature=related
Man Enough
June 10th, 2010
8:09 pm
Poor old Lame Kiffin……..Not!!!! I love it! Not that I wish this on any team, but on Kiffin, I think It’s hilarious! He’s getting what he deserved! There is justice after all!
Dave Cutler
June 10th, 2010
8:29 pm
Dude what is up with all these UGA fans chiming in. Who the heck are they to judge Auburn about this. Hey UGA fans, just because you have beaten Auburn four years in a row has nothing to do with the quality of football Auburn played in 2004. Get over yourselves. Any by the way, Auburn has beaten UGA many times and the two programs a very similar. For any UGA fan to sit here and try and suggest their program is better is laughable. When is the last time UGA went undefeated? You do realize that if Auburn were to have been treated right, UGA would be the only SEC team out of the major six to win the NT since the BCS. But then again, what do you expect…UGA has a losing head to head record against Auburn, Tenn, LSU, Alabama, and an embarrassing complex with Florida. If the Gators keep handing UGA their butts, soon we can all say congratulations Georgia, you have a losing head to head record against every quality team in the SEC.
Dave Cutler
June 10th, 2010
8:32 pm
***to NOT win the NT I mean. 98 Tenn, 03 LSU, 04 AUB, 06 UF, 07 LSU, 08 UF, 09 UA.
UGA?
athdog
June 10th, 2010
8:37 pm
GatorGal, you speak the truth and it hurts mightily. We in Athens long to return to the Dooley domination years when we were on the other side of all of the wins in Jacksonville. Nice post, honey. Now get back in the laundry room.
bamaguy
June 10th, 2010
8:59 pm
We can comment all we want, but in the end this will all be settled on the field this fall.