Southern Cal isn’t the 2004 BCS champ, but neither is Auburn
"Unhand that crystal, Mr. Carroll!" (AP photo)
File this under Empty Gestures: Six and a half years after the fact, the BCS has determined that Southern Cal was not its national champion. (Thank Reggie Bush and his benefactors.) Indeed, the BCS has decreed that, from this day forward, it will have no national champion for 2004.
Which will make Auburn folks mad, seeing as how the Tigers finished undefeated but was shut out of the BCS championship game because … well, because then as now we don’t have a bona fide playoff. But it really wouldn’t have been fair to name Auburn the national champ over Oklahoma, which was likewise undefeated until it lost to Southern Cal 55-19 in the BCS title game.
Can we debit the Sooners for a loss that now, at least in BCS eyes, didn’t happen? And do we know for sure that Auburn, with Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown and Jason Campbell, would have beaten Oklahoma, which had Adrian Peterson and Jason White and the fabulously named Mark Bradley?
(My question: Does this mean Mark Bradley’s silly fumbled punt against the Trojans is now expunged from the record book? All us Mark Bradleys can only hope.)
For all of those who aren’t Auburn fans, you now have a timetable. If the many investigations into the Tigers’ 2010 season turn up something damaging (and provable) — I’m on record as guessing they won’t, but let’s play what-if here — will it be June 2017 before the BCS reclaims its crystal football?
More to the point, should we care? As noted above, I’m no fan of the ex post facto title-stripping. Didn’t like it when the SEC did it to the 1984 Florida Gators. Don’t like it anytime. Once a game is played and a champion crowed, there’s no real way to take it back.
Southern Cal played for the title. Southern Cal beat Oklahoma by 36 points. That’s how I’ll always recall the 2004 season, and the Associated Press, which names a champion of its own, agrees. So far as the wire service is concerned, the Trojans remain the 2004 titlists. So far as I’m concerned, SC of ‘04 remains the finest collegiate team I’ve ever seen in person.
By Mark Bradley
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137 comments Add your comment
Paul
June 7th, 2011
7:10 am
Holy cow. He’s alive. I thought the rapture got you MB
Gen Neyland
June 7th, 2011
7:11 am
Can’t lay it totally on Bush and his benefactors. If the $$$’s weren’t dangled in front of a kid and his needy (greedy?) benefactors in the first place, it wouldn’t have happened. So much for Truth, Justice and the American way…or is it..?
gabred
June 7th, 2011
7:18 am
Mark this makes you happy doesnt it. If it was Georgia you would be screaming for a title. You are a Hater!
GT
June 7th, 2011
7:28 am
There is a lot to be said about Carroll going undefeated no matter the conditions. Those were great athletes that were eligible in every other way except getting a little money, who were probably playing against Ok. players doing the same thing. No steroids involved and Reggie Bush was from California and probably would have been playing at USC is no one including the competition offered him money. I mean it wasn’t like he came from New York like Lew Alcindor. Richt gets these kinds of players on his roster about every year and can’t even have a winning season some years. Auburn is the number 2 university in a state of 2 million and goes undefeated. There is a lot more to football than just the players.
Bigboy
June 7th, 2011
7:44 am
Richt seems to be able to beat GT just fine though
Haters Gonna Hate
June 7th, 2011
7:56 am
Mark Bradley is the king hater. I mean wha a tool.
» BBL: Meyer ready to realize dreams; Kanter a mystery John Clay’s Sidelines
June 7th, 2011
7:58 am
[...] Bradley: Sorry Auburn, no BCS do-overs [...]
Tiger 4 Ever
June 7th, 2011
8:09 am
Like fine wine, we finally can pop the cork to our 2004 National Championship!~ WAR EAGLE!!!!
Two Championship in 1 year AWESOME!
Buckeye
June 7th, 2011
8:09 am
I suppose the 100,000 fans in the stands that night were all dreamning…….
Tressel, Pryor, Cam, Reggie Bush, Time Out Time Out Time Out, the Oregon kid cold-cocking the dude, Spike’s gouge, tree killing, campus trashing, Ealey’s spit………..it’s all good
Buckeye
June 7th, 2011
8:15 am
Bradley goes AWOL for days and reappears to talk revisionist history…………..good gig ifyou can get it.
LakeDawg
June 7th, 2011
8:28 am
Its easy to look like the greatest collegiate team when you don’t play the SEC. Auburn was the better team. They had 4 players drafted in the top 10 that year.
You're an idiot
June 7th, 2011
8:32 am
Bradley, you fumbled as bad as the OU punter of the same name with this column. Or maybe just stupid? Can you name one penalty of any kind that is administered BEFORE THE FACTS? No, penalties are administered after the fact, after an investigation, after a trial. I realize the NCAA doesn’t do trials but my point is you can’t penalize a team before you have the facts via an investigation. That takes time and thus the long wait. Too long I agree. Otherwise I guess your answer is to let “journalists” write columns of innuendo and slander ahead of time, generated mostly due to loyalty or jealousy and then we would be good to go. We could stop them from playing the champ game since you esteemed journalists would have given us the scoop. Our system is called innocent until proven guilty. So now, I can truly indict, try and convict you of stupidity with this column.
Buckeye
June 7th, 2011
8:40 am
shankit is Anthony Weiner
StottsEra
June 7th, 2011
8:40 am
WAR EAGLE! 2010 National Champs!
at least you can rejoice over recruiting UGA
lol
AltamahaDawg
June 7th, 2011
8:44 am
IF, IF there were an actual National Championship won on the field, THEN the runner up gets the crown if the queen has to step down.
Since this is strictly a way to give voters an easier way to prefer who they like, there is no contingency.
All that happened was an organization who deems themselves some standard, made an internal decision.
Too bad the actual governing body of college football is still stuck in the mode of tightly controlling everything till the end of the year when they just decide to roll over.
gdawginkalamazoo
June 7th, 2011
8:44 am
Buckeye, that 8:40 post was funny.
gdawginkalamazoo
June 7th, 2011
8:45 am
I am only guessing but IMO a player that has his parents provided with money and a house (possibly jobs) is more likely to go out and play better than a kid who is stressed and worrying about his mom and dad struggling to make ends meet. The kid who feels like his future and the future of his family’s well being rest on his shoulders might tend to play a little differently to avoid possible injury and end of his NFL future. Less stress with mom and dad taken care of. Sure it affects play on the field.
War Cheaters
June 7th, 2011
8:48 am
Congratulations Auburn, your next! Guess you will still have to go all the way back to the 50’s to remember a title in that trailor park lol.
puppykiller
June 7th, 2011
8:50 am
Auburn went undefeated in the toughest conference in America in 2004. If the same situation were to have happened to THuga or bammer, you wouldn’t be able to hear yourself think for all the crying, screaming and demands for either to be given that crystal football today. Auburn fans know that we are one of the premier programs in college football. We know that we sat atop the college football world at the end of th 04 season as undefeated champions. We know that the way things are set up that the BCS nor the AP will backtrack now and re-name AU as the NC. But we know. And you know. THuga fans drool at the very idea of being in Auburn’s place. And we LOVE THAT!!!
Chi Town
June 7th, 2011
8:53 am
But didnt they have a parade with tractors in the metropolis of Opelika celebrating the NC?
KeepDreaming
June 7th, 2011
9:04 am
Auburn should have gotten the 2004 title. Any moron that says they couldn’t have beaten that USC team needs to take a cold hard look at what the SEC has done to other conferences as a whole. We dominate down here, and there is no reason to believe AU wouldnt have done the same against USC.
Larry
June 7th, 2011
9:05 am
Coach Dooley,
Feel better? Did you even read and comprehend my comments?
I have no feelings whatsoever about the 2004 Auburn team. And I remain suspicious and repulsed at how the NCAA looked the other way on father Newton’s deliberate and calculated attempt to cheat. And anyone who really thinks that Cam was completely blind to all of this also think he didn’t cheat on exams at Florida or was arrested for theft by receiving stolen property!
No, my comments are strictly about 2004 and the facts are simple: USC cheated, OK was beaten convincingly, and Auburn we know didn’t ;lose and there are no facts to suggest they cheated in 2004.
Auburn University is the 2004 NCAA Division l Football Champion, and if I were and Auburn fan or player–or the University itself–I would openly, unabashedly and publicly advertise this and place a championship banner in their stadium and a replica of the trophy on display somewhere totally irrespective of what the NCAA and stupid BCS committee thought about it! I mean after all, theses goobers simply email their vote for the Champion so who is to say Auburn’s vote is any less viable or accurate that theirs?
The whole darn thing should be determined on the field anyway. If so, I am a firm believer that my Georgia Bulldogs were clearly the best team in the country in 2007 when for some silly reason they were not allowed to play for the title. Who can honestly claim that LSU and Ohio State were the best team at the time of the NCAA title game?
No one!
AltamahaDawg
June 7th, 2011
9:11 am
I personally wouldn’t trade places with image AU has right now (fair or not), for all the trophies in the world. Georgia will get better. Georgia will be back in the top 10, probably sooner rather than later. Auburn will be hearing the chants of “cheaters” for a long time to come and I don’t actually think they will have that great of a season, so then what do you have? No reason to believe they are going to be any more “elite” than a lot of teams. And the chances of ever repeating last year’s success historically aren’t working in your favor.
Just looking at a logical conclusion, Georgia has upward trend to look forward to, Auburn’s most likely future is going to be a downward trend. Certainly this year. How far and how long is the guestion. Not very, I would guess, but that doesnt make me drool.
Just reading your post, you strike me as a guy whose opinion is very predicated on the right now. I’m betting the right now, as in this season, Auburn isn’t going to do any better than Georgia.
AltamahaDawg
June 7th, 2011
9:24 am
The fact that you log onto a blog about Auburn, nothing to do with Georgia, BUT indentify yourself not as an Auburn fans but as Anti-Georgia, and spent you post with less pride in Auburn, and more worried about the opinion of Georgia fans as it relates to Auburn, tell’s me WHO is the one worried about being in somebodies place.
Rick
June 7th, 2011
9:35 am
Give it to Oklahoma, at least they cleaned up their program and Barry Switzer has been relegated to selling fried chicken and home repair services.
Remember when college was about going to school?
gdawginkalamazoo
June 7th, 2011
9:55 am
Send USC’s crystal ball over to Orson Charles room, he’ll take care of it.
K
June 7th, 2011
10:49 am
Great idea….auction the Crystal & use the $$ for some good. I mean, it’s being taken away from USC. What will become of it? Put it to good use to pay down the national debt, or for a worthy non-profit in USC’s backyard.
puppykiller
June 7th, 2011
12:35 pm
There is nothing more profoundly funny or sad than reading THuga fans and bammer fans screaming about Auburn, who is neither on probation (that would be YOU…BAMMER!!!!!!) nor a recent winner / recipient of the Fulmer Cup for having the most out-of-control program and players in the country (that be YOU….THUGA!!!!!). THuga and bammer are the 2 outstanding examples of everything that is wrong with college football. And yet their fans’ envy of Auburn completely has them mouthing off about right and wrong when their own program is at the heart of the problem today in this great sport. We AU alum and fans absolutely LOVE the fact that all you can do is stand on the sidelines and cry.!!! Keep it up!!! We’ll keep winning SEC and national titles while you buffoons continue your slide down the hill of mediocrity!!! Heeee Heeee Heeee Heeee Heeeee!!!
WDE!!!
atex cat
June 7th, 2011
1:50 pm
I heard cecil and cam will lobby hard for AU to get the 2004 title—there may be some cash on the table and cecil want a cut.
The Guy is Good...
June 7th, 2011
2:14 pm
I agree with Mark Bradley in that this is no way to recount history. As an Auburn alum and fan, it’s not as much a slap in the face to Auburn as it is to Oklahoma. How does a team reach the title game, lose to an opponent with ineligible players, and then have the title vacated right in front of them? To resolve the issue by unraveling it is no solution in my opinion.
Why do the polls matter for any other reason than this, to rank the teams after all the games have been played…otherwise they are useless.
12trojan
June 7th, 2011
3:40 pm
I can give all of you Bama fans 27 or 28 reasons why Auburn is National Champions this year! Also, as for being second class citizens in the state of Alabama just remember who has beat your a$$ 7 out of the last 10 years! War Eagle!
FaithfulDawg86
June 7th, 2011
6:12 pm
That’s just the point, Mark, it wasn’t a COLLEGIATE team, now was it? You cheat, you get caught, you get punished – even if after the fact.
Gator Bob
June 7th, 2011
7:17 pm
Auburn sucks, they didn’t deserve a championship since they didn’t have the chance to play for it. I wish we could go back that year and have a playoff and see who the champ is, no ones knows who would have won. But saying that Auburn should be awarded a championship when they didn’t even make the game is ridiculous, because someone else could have been better than Auburn.
Gator Bob
June 7th, 2011
7:20 pm
Auburn will be lucky to win 8 games this season. Their defensive line will be a mess with all the guys they lost and their o-line will only be good if they get major contributions from true freshman. I see blowout losses coming against LSU, Arkansas, Alabama as well as losses to Florida and probably Georgia.
Rick
June 7th, 2011
7:27 pm
Georgia haters need to get off this article, it’s not about Georgia! A lot of hate towards a team that won just 6 games last year…
Big Dawg
June 10th, 2011
8:20 am
I will repeat something I have been saying since 2004, that the 2004 Auburn Tigers should have been given the opportunity to play Southern Cal for the BCS Championship. I said it then that Oklahoma had no business playing against the Trojans and predicted USC would blow them out. I was told by my friends at the time I didn’t know what I was talking about but was proven right as far as the outcome between USC and OK.
Now as for why I thought then that an Auburn vs. USC matchup would have been a better game is because Auburn had been ranked # 6 preseason in 2003 and many thought they were poised to not only win the SEC but MNC that year but we saw what happened their players bought into the hype and they didn’t work at becoming better and thought that all they had to do was show up and USC beat them but it was not a cake walk for USC. As they lost a few games you could see them becoming deflated as the season progressed but the talent was still there. Now when the 2004 season started they were ranked like 18th I seem to remember preseason but they won some tight games early and developed confidence and by the end of the season they were a GREAT team. Having played in the SEC they were battle tested and IMHO (which I said at the time) would have given that GREAT USC team all they could handle in the Orange Bowl. I said it then that I thought Auburn would have beaten the Trojans but you know what we will never know. Anyway it is good to discuss these what ifs.
Go Dawgs
Southern Cal isn't the 2004 BCS champ, but neither is Auburn … | auburntigers.sportsblogstoday.com
June 11th, 2011
7:40 am
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