Chasing their tails by Jerry Bonkowski, Yahoo! Sports January 4, 2005 NEW ORLEANS – Maybe the Bowl Championship Series voters and computers weren't wrong after all. Perhaps they saw something in Auburn that the Tigers didn't see in themselves, in their contention that it was they – and not Southern California or Oklahoma – who should have been chosen for Tuesday's BCS title game. Auburn finished an outstanding 13-0 for the season thanks to Monday's 16-13 win over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. But it was not the kind of effort from which national championships – or shares of national championships – emerge. The Tigers appear too blind to see such an effort won't help them in the voting for the final Associated Press poll, Auburn's only chance at a share of the national title. After leading 16-0 through the first three quarters, Auburn let Virginia Tech get back into the game with two unanswered fourth-quarter touchdowns. One more inopportune turnover, and Auburn may have gone back to Alabama as a loser. The only thing that could have made some voters change their minds would have been for the Tigers to blow out the Hokies, to show just how dominant they truly were. But a three-point win is not likely to convince the media members who vote in the AP poll that the Tigers deserve to move up to No. 1, unless both Oklahoma and USC somehow turn Tuesday's Orange Bowl into a real stinker. Auburn players and coaches seemed in denial after the game. "I hope that you all help push for us to have an opportunity to be national champs," Tigers quarterback Jason Campbell told the assembled press. "I feel like we're No. 1 and we deserve to be co-national champs, the same situation as last year, when two 12-1 teams got to split the national championship. Why can't two 13-0 teams do that? I think we deserve the same opportunity." Strong safety Junior Rosegreen took a swipe at the BCS and its selection system. [B]"Next year, everybody better watch out because Auburn is coming right back to the SEC championship," [/B] Rosegreen said. "They're not going to be able to try that BCS bull crap." (**Put away the bong, Mr. Rosegreen. Put it down and walk-slowly-away.**) Added linebacker Travis Williams: "Mark my words. Oklahoma will beat USC, and we'll get a share of [the national championship]." A blowout of Virginia Tech would have gone a long way toward making Auburn more appealing to poll voters. But instead, the team played like it missed the wakeup call at its hotel. If it hadn't been for talented kicker John Vaughn, who nailed first-half field goals of 23, 19 and 24 yards, Auburn could have lost – and would have been hard-pressed to finish the season ranked in the top five. Still, the players continue to believe otherwise. "I think the people who really understand football took a long, hard look and really understood what took place tonight," Campbell said. Auburn came into the game with the stingiest defense in the country in terms of points allowed. While it lived up to its reputation in the first three quarters, the Hokies twice found the end zone in the fourth quarter, first on a 29-yard pass from quarterback Bryan Randall to split end Josh Morgan. The same duo made an encore appearance less than five minutes later on an impressive 80-yard strike. When the Tigers played ultraconservative and dropped 15 yards in the last three plays of the final series to clinch the victory, they drew a round of boos from many of the 77,000-plus fans – including their own – who packed the Louisiana Superdome Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville was caught up in the national championship frenzy. After the game, he said he will be ordering national champion rings for his players – even if no one picks them. "We'll accept some national championship from somebody, if anybody wants to give it to us," Tuberville said. "No doubt somebody will pick us. You know, I've got a subscription to Golf Digest magazine. I'm going to call them up and ask them if they'll vote us No. 1. "When you go 13-0, you should be national champions. We've done all we could do." Damn, if this is indicative of how the national media saw last night's game, they must think AU and Tubby are pathetic. Truth hurts sometimes. :wink:
I dont think we need to denigrate them to make ourselfves feel better. But then peoples insecurity issues are their problems. They are SEC champs who beat the ACC champs and late TD made the score look close, sound familiar? Actually no, because we didnt beat a major conferance champion to win the BCS last year and we did have a home loss to zook era florida. They have a legitamite case to make for the co-national champs, I mean USuC got it and they lost to friggin cal and had to beat meatchicken in the rose bowl. :champs: :lsup: :champs:
i sort of agree with that. certainly i think auburn is more deserving of bengt national champs that USC was last year (which was none). 13-0 is a hell of a lot beter than USC's 12-1 lasy tear, and they didnt have any problem calling themselves national champs, even though they were not, not even slightly. i actually think that is a pretty funny thing to say, if you interpret it as a jab against the stupididty of a system where a team can just basically decide they are national champs (USC) and start claiming they are, and have people actually buy the lie. golf digest championship is exactly as meaningful as the human polls that usc had last year. obviously the reality is that auburn is not a national champ in any sense. but similarly, we should recognize that usc was never the champ either.
LSU's appearance in the Sugar Bowl was made possible, to no small degree, because they executed when it mattered most: the last three games of the season. Plenty of teams serve as the "flavor of the week" the first 7 or 8 weeks of the season, but come November it's to separate pretenders and contenders. LSU won on the road against the best Ole Miss team in a generation then closed out the regular season and conference title game by an average of 26 points per game. Auburn, on the other hand, started impressively by beating Georgia...then won its last two pre-bowl games by a combined 15 points. If there is an air of desperation in what Auburn is doing now, it's rooted in the knowledge (that even they, deep down, must share) that, after that Georgia game, they had OU on the ropes...and let them off with a 5 point win over Alabama and a 10 point win (after blowing a 21 point lead) over a Tennessee team that lost to Notre Dame this season. Not exactly finishing strong, at least in comparison to your competition. Any other year, practically, Auburn gets its shot. The fact that the season would not end like "any other year" was readily apparent by the first week of November, Auburn knew what it had to do to overcome their final hurdle and, by the first week of December, could not do it. Yes, it's unfair that USC was annointed #1 and did not fall after some of their close calls, but the #1 team *never* falls after a close win. That's a fact, and it has nothing to do with belittling someone else for the mere sake of doing so.
One was 13-1, one was 12-1. Silly aubbie. Surprised? Not me. AUBARN TIGERS 2003 GOLF DIGEST NATIONAL CHAMPIONS :rofl: :hihi: :lol:
The funny thing is in Pete's interview he thinks only the two teams playing in the BCS game tonight deserve the National Title. :dis: Go figure. :cry:
The worst part for Auburn is that two factors played heavily in them not making the NC game. First was the preseason polls, which are nothing more than a big bucket of doggie poo. It is completely unfair for teams to be ranked before they ever play a down in a game. It's ridiculous that teams are given a ranking before the season begins, a position to which they only have to hold on to. USC and OU were ranked 1 and 2 all season, and unless they lost a game, there was no way anyone could've overtaken them, and that's ludicrous. If the media wants a preseason poll, they should make it purely speculative, and then not be allowed to rank teams until at least the 3rd week. Then they should rank the teams as to how the've done so far and go from there. Last season Auburn was a preseason pick by some to win the NC, but they fell early. Had they had that high preseason ranking this year, things might be a little different. Especially after how USC and OU both struggled early. The second way they got screwed was that the BCS was a complete joke this year. Strength of schedule was removed, and that's what helped us last year. Auburn got no more credit for beating the defending national champs of LSU, who would go 9-3, than USC got for beating UCLA for instance. What a farce. Plus, the unbiased computer rankings now only make up 1/3 of the BCS standings, with the biased human polls being the main deciding factors. The BCS no really has no relevance to which teams are actually the best. It's just whoever the media and coaches like best, which is a joke. I'm not crying for Auburn, because they've been pretty classless towards us in recent years, and they certainly didn't give us much sympathy last year, but I do feel bad for their players. Any team to go unbeaten in the SEC should have some sort of claim to a NC. At least a shot at it. Just my .02cents. And I know most of you know all that already, I was just venting, so forgive me.
Tuberville Quote When asked if he would reward his players with “national championship” rings anyway, Tuberville nodded and quipped, “Somebody will pick us. I have a subscription to Golf Digest, and I’m going to call them and ask them if they’ll vote us No. 1.” It must be an Alabama thing.
