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
Bodda Getta
June 6th, 2011
6:49 pm
Congratulations Auburn Tigers!
1957, 2004, and 2010 National Champions!
josh
June 6th, 2011
6:49 pm
first
Bodda Getta
June 6th, 2011
6:53 pm
Now we can put a statue of Jason Campbell next to Cam Newton!
WDE!
Benjamin
June 6th, 2011
6:54 pm
What good does this do, exactly? Seven years after they got all the perks of being national champions, with Pete Carroll and the team all long gone, they “strip them” of the title?
You show ‘em, BCS folks. You show the world!
headley lamar
June 6th, 2011
6:55 pm
Takes NCAA 7 years to vacate one. Guess that means AU will lose theirs around 2018
coloradobulldog
June 6th, 2011
6:59 pm
Uh Bodda Getta… until NCAA takes away the 2010 from AU one for paying Cam.
headley lamar
June 6th, 2011
7:01 pm
I got news for the Auburn folks. AU wouldn’t have been able to beat that USC team either.
dawg4u
June 6th, 2011
7:01 pm
Welcome back Mark. I was almost starting to get worried that you had flown the coup on us and headed for greener, cooler pastures.
Not Don Waddell
June 6th, 2011
7:03 pm
Oh the irony, Auburn fans will be whining about this, then someone else (Oregon? TCU?) will be whining when Auburn’s sham title is stripped in a couple of years.
Wonder why the NCAA doesn’t go back to Ohio St’s sham in ‘02, now? We know that Clarett never should have been eligible and his play on the fumble recovery won that game for them, along with an egregiously bad P.I. penalty.
How depressing to look at the state of college football now. A game I grew up loving has been reduced to televangelist-style cheating and political corruption. It is absolutely disgusting.
Kind of makes me look back on Miami fondly. Those guys did not give a crap, put it all out in the open and just did what they did. Now all the cheating is done behind closed doors and denied in conspiracy form by everyone from the peons in the compliance department to the university presidents. It’s absolutely appalling and disgusting.
GTBob
June 6th, 2011
7:05 pm
An organization that no one likes decides 7 years later to make a statement that no one even cares about anymore. What a waste of time.
ted williams head
June 6th, 2011
7:05 pm
regretfully I have to agree Mark
Mark Bradley
June 6th, 2011
7:09 pm
Thanks, dawg4u. But I’m afraid y’all are stuck with me a while longer.
Worm
June 6th, 2011
7:11 pm
Enter your comments here
Worm
June 6th, 2011
7:16 pm
How bout we auction the crystal and pay down the national debt?
Mark Bradley
June 6th, 2011
7:33 pm
Thanks, jeffrey d.
jeffrey d
June 6th, 2011
7:35 pm
Thanks Mark. Welcome back!
AU
June 6th, 2011
7:56 pm
Being an avid AU TIGER I agree the game was played and move on. Not certain Oklahma deserved to play in the game in the 1st place, but old news now! The 2004 Tiger team was a great team no less!
jeffrey d
June 6th, 2011
7:56 pm
How’d you know I was gonna say that, Mark??
War Eagle
June 6th, 2011
7:58 pm
Always throwing Auburn under the bus, is it because your beloved UGA can`t get a smell of a NC game?? It will never happen as long as CMR keeps his current position.
Why don`t all you bama and dawg fans wait and see the results and slow down the blogs on Newton, as if you know what really happen. I do agree with you Mark, nothing will become of this . Saban, and Chizik in 5 years and 2 years respectively have accomplishment more than Richt in 10 years.
Georgia Tech Sucks
June 6th, 2011
7:58 pm
The USC ‘04 team was seriously good however, cheating is still cheating. You know what they say in the SEC, ” If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying hard enough.” AU better hope the NCAA lets sleeping dogs lie.
Max Sizemore
June 6th, 2011
7:59 pm
You hit the nail on the head, Not Don Waddell. Especially on that pass interference penalty. Never did see a replay on that; I wonder why.
Dhal
June 6th, 2011
8:00 pm
When will the Auburn fans remember their 2003 season, which started with them highly ranked but ended with them barely ranked. They started the 2004 season in the rankings where they belonged, somewhere in the bottom of the barrel. Whereas USC and OU started the 2004 season ranked #1 and #2. How do Auburn fans think they deserved a shot at the title game that year? Auburn showed the pollsters that they couldn’t handle a high ranking and were justifiably ranked well below USC and OU. In other words the problem started the year before. Gripe at the 2003 team not the pollsters in 2004.
Mark Bradley
June 6th, 2011
8:03 pm
ESP, jeffrey d. Or ESPN.
War Eagle
June 6th, 2011
8:07 pm
Mark, I agree with you Auburn should not be given 2004 title, its fact you always have to bring out Cam Newton name…You know nothing as what really happen.
Concern
June 6th, 2011
8:08 pm
Maybe we should wait x number of years before officially crowning a team The National Champion. What happened to the text book investigation of the 2010 National Champs. Lots of investigations ongoing obviously.
War Eagle
June 6th, 2011
8:09 pm
Dhal, When last time UGA has been 14-0 NEVER)? Auburn twice 2004, 2010? you speak of where they statred in ranking, thats nuts? Its a know fact if you SEC Champs you belong in the BCS, ask Bama, Florida(twice) and LSU. They deserved to play for title just as Auburn, no matter what your preseasond ranking!!!
Mark Bradley
June 6th, 2011
8:11 pm
Did I mention Cam Newton?
toddd grantham
June 6th, 2011
8:23 pm
all is right in the world now: USC stripped of a title, the Braves are playing to par, no arrests lately for UGA football team, the inevitable shoe will fall on Auburn and Mark’s back.
Tell The Truth
June 6th, 2011
8:26 pm
The way it looked on HBO Auburn and USC prescribed to the same payment plan.
Auburn will not be named 2004 champions and after Bingogate is over they will not have the 2010 title either.
Pr1sonMike
June 6th, 2011
8:26 pm
War Eagle, for what it’s worth Auburn went 13-0 in 2004. Auburn didn’t make it to the national championship because USC and Oklahoma were national powerhouses at the time. USC’s resounding beatdown in the Orange Bowl compared to Auburn’s 3-pt victory over the ACC Champion in New Orleans didn’t really help Auburn’s case for a share of the title.
toddd grantham
June 6th, 2011
8:28 pm
…Katie’s leaving CBS, Weiner has signed a lucrative endoresment contract with Oscar Mayer, and Eddie long is taking his act to Alabama. What more could one ask for?
War Eagle
June 6th, 2011
8:35 pm
Mark, what does your 5th paragraph mean about hopeful 2017 findings?? “lets play what if -here”.. who are you referring too ???”?
Beast from the East
June 6th, 2011
8:35 pm
“So far as I’m concerned, SC of ‘04 remains the finest collegiate team I’ve ever seen in person.”
Yeah, the best money could buy.
Mark,
That was not a collegiate team. They had a PAID PROFESSIONAL playing for them. This was proven, thus the stripping of the Heisman and the BCS Trophy.
War Eagle
June 6th, 2011
8:38 pm
Prison Mike, you are correct 13-0, VA Tech would have played SC or Oklahoma a good game, they were a very good team, well coached.
Mark (another one)
June 6th, 2011
8:43 pm
When will a school like USC sue the hell out of the players that violate their contracts with the University? The NCAA itself doesn’t have standing but the University does. These players caused them harm and financial damage. They should be held accountable or the agreement means nothing. As do NCAA rules.
Not Don Waddell
June 6th, 2011
8:45 pm
Auburn also went undefeated in 1957, but had been caught cheating, so it is moot.
Auburn also went 11-1 in 1983, and wound up on probation.
Auburn also went undefeated in 1993, but had been caught cheating, so it is moot.
Auburn has had some historically good seasons, but only when they cheat. They are simply a bunch of moron cheaters who have never had any legitimate success. Now, we all know that it is probably painful to suckle from the hind teet in not one, but two states, but that is the plight of the War Eagle/Tiger/Plainsmen.
I say congrats on your 2010 season, and please enjoy it while it lasts. Yes, it’s true, you will always be the 2nd citizen in your own state, and you will always be where folks from Georgia go when they get denied entry into Athens, but hey, someone has to be the tail. If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying, so kudos to Auburn. Bobby Lowder is a latter-day saint.
Tell The Truth
June 6th, 2011
8:49 pm
NDW…….NICE
Mark Bradley
June 6th, 2011
8:50 pm
I see toddd grantham has added an extra “d” to his first name. Guess that’s why he coaches D.
jdawg
June 6th, 2011
8:50 pm
Auburn actually came closer to “legitamately winning” the championship in 04 than this year. That was a great team, that wasn’t as paid for as last year’s team was. Oh well, big time CF is what it is. Look at OSU, USC, Texas, etc…. No way TCU, Boise, Alabama, Florida, FSU, and the countless other “suprises” have done so without cutting corners as well. I love college football, but it is a complete mess. To not see it, is to be in total denial.
War Eagle
June 6th, 2011
8:57 pm
Not Don Waddell, I was born and raise in Georgia, live in Georgia today and not 2nd rate citizen. Played on the Auburn 1957 National championshipo team, Auburn gradfuate and was recrited by Wally Butts(UGA) and Bobby Dodd(GT)to play football and run track…, , retired,paid my taxes, in church on Sunday gave to charity every year in Georgia and I amm 2nd rate, what`s your resume`??
Radney
June 6th, 2011
8:57 pm
Take head Aubarn, you will be stripped next and I will smile.
Radney
June 6th, 2011
9:00 pm
Aubarn didn’t win doodly in 57. They lost two games and were on probation then. Cheater champs maybe.
Tim E
June 6th, 2011
9:00 pm
Auburn will be hit just as hard as USC. This is going to take some time and when the smoke clears…Auburn will look just as bad as USC does right now.
Andrew
June 6th, 2011
9:00 pm
Give it to Utah. Auburn has had one of the most corrupt college football programs for decades.
Not Don Waddell
June 6th, 2011
9:02 pm
@Jdawg…..pretty sure that Troy Reddick and Stanley McClover would disagree with you about Auburn’s 2004 team…
Juuurdun Hay-ur
June 6th, 2011
9:03 pm
WDE!
We
Deny
Everything!
Not Don Waddell
June 6th, 2011
9:04 pm
Paying taxes is for suckers…The ability to reason the un-reason which has afflicted by reason saps my ability to reason, so that I complain with good reason of your infinite loveliness.
Andrew
June 6th, 2011
9:06 pm
Auburn should be stripped next. And then the Heisman will be taken away from Scam Newton.
mark
June 6th, 2011
9:07 pm
Hey Mark,
Whats up with you hiding on memorial day? Still waiting for your “annual memorial day” college football predictions?
War Eagle
June 6th, 2011
9:09 pm
Radney, check your scores again, 10-0, only 28 points scored on Auburn the entire season, beat UGA 6-0 And Alabama 42-0. I gvuess UGA basketball program has been sneakney clean all these years. Lets be fair, bama, Auburn, UGA, Tenn and others have been on probation especially Auburn and Alabama.
Andrew
June 6th, 2011
9:09 pm
Sure Auburn, a lot of teams can go undefeated when they cheat.
Mark Bradley
June 6th, 2011
9:12 pm
I’m thinking you were just giddy over your breadth of cultural references, TG.
todd grantham
June 6th, 2011
9:13 pm
Mark, i guess it was just the excitement of you being back, heh, heh.
todd grantham
June 6th, 2011
9:17 pm
is it just me or does it look like pete carroll and ray goff were separated at birth?
UGASlobberknocker
June 6th, 2011
9:20 pm
Congratulations to the 2004 National Champion
Utah Utes
NRBQ
June 6th, 2011
9:21 pm
War Eagle: ” Auburn gradfuate and was recrited by Wally Butts(UGA).”
Is one of your kids handy to help you spell, Mr. College Graduate?
Eaassyy
June 6th, 2011
9:28 pm
This is stupid.
it isn't what it isn't
June 6th, 2011
9:33 pm
hahahahahaha, you can’t make this cr@p up…well Kiffin, how do you like leaving Tennesee now? Don’t stop there NCAA, Auburn isn’t without sin either so Tuberville needs to shut up..
and while you”re at it, take a look at UCONN in basketballl in 2004, c h e a t e r s, hand the national championship over to GT
FLA DAWG
June 6th, 2011
9:38 pm
APPLES & ORANGES MARK,
These are two different issues………….In my book Auburn was short-sheeted by not having been invited to play for the Championship. That does not mean they would have won (I think they would have).
Stripping a team of a Championship does not automatically mean another team is GIVEN that Championship Title …………………UNLESS………………there IS a Playoff and then the PROVEN # 2 Team can be awarded the Crystal Ball.
So it is written, so it shall be done!
Kevin
June 6th, 2011
9:39 pm
Hey Auburn, USC had already came into your house in the SEC and cleaned your clock 23-0 just the year before! Be very fortunate Auburn fans that you didn’t make the title game in 2004. It would of been a complete massacre and waste of time to watch just as the Oklahoma game was for USC. Hey Mark how about this?….We should take the cheaters of the 2004 national championship and play the cheaters of the 2010 championship and the loser gets to leave college football for life. Both programs are a disgrace to the purity of what college football should be about!
DHM
June 6th, 2011
9:48 pm
Mark, why are such an Auburn Hater? Being from Maysville, KY, myself, I would think you might be a bit more objectional!!!!
bigdawg
June 6th, 2011
9:52 pm
Guess you are attempting to protect future UK basketball championships, Mark? I disagree with you entirely. That’s like saying a person that steals millions should not lose the money after the fact! Cheating should always be punished or the rule book should be thrown out. Can’t have it both ways and eat your cake too.
bamaguy
June 6th, 2011
9:53 pm
I am not sure Auburn could have beaten Southern Cal (USC is in Columbia, SC) in 2004 but I can tell you the score sure would not have been 55-19.
That said, stripping the title only hurts the fans, not those who participated in the fraud. I believe both of the guilty parties are making millions in the NFL (I do love that Reggie Bush is major pis*ed that the Saints drafter Mark Ingram)
Wait a Minute
June 6th, 2011
9:53 pm
As far as academics, Auburn may be the lowest ranked “school” in the country.
It Ain't Rocket Science
June 6th, 2011
9:53 pm
Just for informational purposes, Boise State goes before the NCAA committee Friday to answer to the charge of lack of Institutional Control. Darn who would ever have suspected that?
SiddyBoy
June 6th, 2011
9:56 pm
Hope we don’t have to wait 6 1/2 years to see Auburn and “CamTheScam” Newton stripped of the 2010 title.
Jamez Broks
June 6th, 2011
10:01 pm
No way Gene Chizik comes in there and recruits a top 5 class off the bat – when some dumb red neck fan is cussing him off the plane. Something smells like fish.
Michael
June 6th, 2011
10:03 pm
Lots of jealous pups, in my opinion.
Auburn: 13-0 in 2004 (claimed as a MNC by AU or not)
Auburn: 14-0 in 2010, BCS National Champs
Tree killer
June 6th, 2011
10:06 pm
Auburn, I will trade you 04 for 10 trophy, at least we know one of them was
Legit!!!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
Sports fan
June 6th, 2011
10:07 pm
Funny thing is auburn and USC are to most disgraceful programs of all time, period.
Check how many times each program has been in trouble , they are number one and two!
Coach Dooley
June 6th, 2011
10:11 pm
Juuurdun Hay-ur Love it- absolutely love it!!!
Jamez Broks
June 6th, 2011
10:13 pm
AU – something smells like a toilet at the truck stop.
Mr. Obvious
June 6th, 2011
10:13 pm
After the NCAA rescinds Auburn’s illegally obtained National Championship win Cam “The Scam” Newton, the Tigers won’t be 2010 National Champions, either.
Coach Dooley
June 6th, 2011
10:15 pm
DHM Here we go with the hater comments again- how fabulous that both OSU and Auburn would play the hater card with such relish. How ironic also that next year we will have new NCAA rules covering “the cam rule” and one covering the “the players didn’t know better” – one for pimping a son and the other for trading “stuff” for cash or tats.
Carlton
June 6th, 2011
10:15 pm
I’m a UGA fan, but I have always supported SEC play-especially in 2004 when Auburn went undefeated and got screwed out of the National Championship..
Honestly, if you’re going to vacate this title, you should also re-evaluate the system. Auburn was obviously a better contender for the national championship that year but that was before the SEC dominance occurred..so the BCS and voters didn’t have the same esteem for the SEC that they do now. They thought USC and either OK, Texas, OSU, Michigan, etc. were more deserving at that time period. That’s why both USC and OK got in the championship that year. Six years later, the SEC has proved that we are not a conference to be f***ed with and Auburn would have owned either USC or Oklahoma that year. The SEC didn’t get a fair shot during that time period (it was all about USC and whoever came out of the Big 12 if you’ll recall) and we only dominated when the BCS had no choice but to put Florida in the National Championship against Ohio State in 2006/2007..
Sports watchdog
June 6th, 2011
10:20 pm
It won’t take that long for NCAA to take away auburns crystal ball, that should resolve itself in a yr or two. Sorry tiger fans, war eagles, or whatever you call yourselves. Enjoy it for another yr.
Bama Fan#2
June 6th, 2011
10:20 pm
Auburn should have played in the NC game but who knows if they would have won it.
The NCAA is looking a the barn right now so may be they take the 2010 title from
Auburn in a few years. Cam Newton got payed and everybody with a brain knows
that except barn fans. RTR
Coach Dooley
June 6th, 2011
10:20 pm
The only thing still lacking is to hear the pious comments from Pete Carroll about how unfair this is to the university and the players. And how he knew nothing about any of it.
dawgtail
June 6th, 2011
10:22 pm
Mighty convenient isn’t it how USC always managed to dodge the SEC’s best in that great ’00’s run? Obviously they had little control over it, but me thinks they wouldn’t be viewed as quite the all powerful indestructible dynasty that they are if the SEC Champ had came calling.
Coach Dooley
June 6th, 2011
10:25 pm
The most pertinent question for me is just how hard will the NCAA come down on OSU after all is said and done. After the terrible year that the NCAA had last year with the Auburn/Cam saga and the OSU 5 (wait till next year) punishment, I would expect a huge part of the college football fan base is waiting to see if the NCAA is ever going to do it’s job again policing cheaters. Could they decide to tear OSU a new one as an example- especially since Tressel not only did not report it; he also lied about knowing about it?
NRBQ
June 6th, 2011
10:31 pm
DHM –
Didn’t you know that MB makes his daily bread being “objectionable?”
Delbert D.
June 6th, 2011
10:36 pm
Suitable punishment ex post facto is difficult to conceive. Perhaps a public pillory of Pete Carroll and Mike Garrett for a week in the Coliseum parking lot, along with the president of the BCS smashing the crystal football on the campus (video by ESPN, of course) would be a start. Reggie Bush in an iron cage for a week on the UCLA campus could be useful as well.
Coach Dooley
June 6th, 2011
10:37 pm
Carlton It might also help for the SEC teams to begin scheduling some tougher OOC teams and occasionally go out of state to play a decent team. And yes I am talking to you Gators. The last time was about 20 years ago against Syracuse I believe- tell me I am wrong????
Coach Dooley
June 6th, 2011
10:38 pm
One would have to admit that it was a delicious irony to have Lane Kiffin leave Tennessee in tatters only to go to USC after the crime had been commited there and to now report to Pat Haden. Will be fun to watch that relationship.
Mark Bradley
June 6th, 2011
10:52 pm
I’m the most objectionable person I know, NRBQ.
Coach Dooley
June 6th, 2011
10:53 pm
http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2011/jun/01/david-climer-gordon-gee-dropped-ohio-state-harder/
Interesting article on Gordon Gee and how tough he was at Vandy until he got religion at OSU.
Dawg A
June 6th, 2011
10:58 pm
Great article Mark! Auburn will have the same thing done to them once the NCAA has the guts to expose Scam Newton for the cheater he is. He is such a thug and his time will come! Auburn fans you will get what you deserve and will crawl in the same hole you have been in for years! Yea I said it!!! And listening to these ignorant fans make me sick so…… I am outta here!!!
Before I go…. why are “Auburn” fans the only ones that don’t get that they got their Scampionship because they cheated! USC and Auburn all the same!
robert
June 6th, 2011
11:00 pm
Auburn undefeated in 1993, 2004, and 2010. Did I miss any years. Any other SEC schools done better in last 20 years or less at having unbeaten seasons. Let me know. WARDAMNEAGLE!
Coach Dooley
June 6th, 2011
11:13 pm
robert WDE!!! We Deny Everything!!!
The Ole Ball Coach
June 6th, 2011
11:14 pm
Alabama will try to claim it, LOL
Larry
June 6th, 2011
11:44 pm
The facts of the case are simple:
1. USC Cheated
2. Oklahoma lost decisively
3. Auburn did neither.
Verdict: Auburn is the rightful and logical National Champion!
And I’m a Georgia Native, and avid Dawg fan, have no respect for the Auburn highly questionable 2010 championship because of Scam Newton.
But, facts are facts, the truth is the truth, and what is right is right!
Why is this so hard for everyone?
sports
June 6th, 2011
11:54 pm
Maybe now the NCAA will go after the Auburn Penitentiary
Coach Dooley
June 7th, 2011
1:05 am
Larry If it makes you feel better then by all means claim it- but it doesn’t work that way. And I don’t think the NCAA is finished with Awbarn U just yet.
1962 DAWG
June 7th, 2011
1:54 am
Mark you did a good job of not mentioning Cam or Cecil Newton.
David
June 7th, 2011
2:36 am
I’m an Auburn grad and not mad about the ‘04 trophy not being awarded to another team. Doesn’t make any sense to do so. Doesn’t mean I won’t forget how bummed I was not getting a chance to play for it, though.
7576DAWG
June 7th, 2011
2:48 am
Anybody who have read my comments know how much I dislike AUBURN. They have been getting away with unethical thing since I went to Georgia in the early to mid 70’s. Shug Jorgan was a master at illegal low life things.
Having said that there hasn’t been any school since I have been watching college football that was screwed over worst than Auburn in 2004. They deserved to play Southern Cal and the media wanted the #1 rated Quarterback and # 2 rated Quarterback in the nation to lead their schools in the national championship so the media money made the Southern Cal and Oklahoma game happen.
Georgia had a very good team in 2004 and was dismantled by Auburn and stopped cold. That was good enough for me and should have been good enough for the BCS.
Columbus Dawg
June 7th, 2011
5:26 am
This is off the subject, but does anyone know who the addition to the strength and conditioning program is?
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June 7th, 2011
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[...] Read more of “Southern Cal isn’t the 2004 BCS champ, but neither is Auburn” on AJC.com 6.7.11 [...]
ColumbiaDawg
June 7th, 2011
6:44 am
The message is as old as sport itself. Cheaters Never Win. Southern Cal cheated to win their games, so the NCAA stripped the school of those victories. The Trojans won using an ineligible playe(s)r to win the BCS title, so the BCS stripped the school of that title.
Barf
June 7th, 2011
6:54 am
Auburn was on probation in 1957,they were not anything but cheaters then and now and here is hoping the NCAA gives them the death penalty and Texas AM gets their SEC slot!!!
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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