So, one firing and two schools later, Tommy Tuberville is still chasing his great white whale.
Though Auburn laying claim to a national title that year would get into tricky territory since there was a designated championship game in 2004 and the Tigers weren’t selected to play in it, they were an undefeated champion of a major conference and won a significant bowl game.
“What I was disappointed with is we didn’t have the media step up and say, ‘OK, there’s got to be a champion so who is it? It obviously should have been us,” Tuberville said. “Oklahoma lost. Maybe they could say it should be split because they played in the game. But Auburn went undefeated.
“If it’d been Michigan, if it had been Alabama, there would have been more of a push toward saying, hey they should be named No. 1. But Auburn, for some reason, we never got to first base on it. There was no support out of the administration.”
Sense of shame? Recognition that it’s hard to claim a BCS title without playing in a BCS title game? Who knows.
But it may now be a thing.
That could be changing.
Jay Jacobs told AL.com that a committee will meet in June to discuss whether the school should officially recognize more than the two national titles for which it officially hangs banners.
That sounds like fun. Especially when Auburn rationalizes claiming a 2004 championship due to USC’s ineligibility and a 1993 one in spite of its own ineligibility.
I just hope they have another parade.
Get The Picture 
I know a couple of Auburn fans who sneer at Bama’s national championship claims. Now they’re gonna do the same thing for less than half the number. Chortle chortle.
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Only at Auburn. The Head Coach and his roll of butt tape…
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I thought the same thing…Roll Tide.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=auburn+toilet+paper+shirts&qs=NM&sk=NM2&FORM=QBIR&pq=auburn%20and%20toilet%20paper&sc=4-23&sp=3&qs=NM&sk=NM2#view=detail&id=3B435BA8F7B7C9ACC236C8251846BC2B27368F85&selectedIndex=68
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I wonder if there’s a personal financial interest in this for him – i.e., did his contract provide for a bonus payment to him from Auburn if they won the nat’l championship.
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Plus interest.
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If you have ever been through a divorce, the self serving specious logic is familiar.
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No one at Auburn would ever take something that didn’t belong to them
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Speak for yourself.
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They’re so desperate to be part of the “cool kids” crowd. I guess that goes back to the fact that AU was the fallback plan for most of their students. These claims are laughable on their face but for completely different reasons. Using Auburn logic (an oxymoron), we should claim 2007 because we believe we should have been in the game except we weren’t.
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My most abiding memory of Tuberville’s SEC tenure is from 2006, when he complained to an ESPN writer about how hard it was for an SEC team to break into the national-championship picture. Just a few days later, his top-five Auburn team lost at home to an unranked Arkansas squad — and the SEC team that wound up playing for the national title was the Florida team whose one loss that season was to Auburn. Kicking off, of course, an as-yet-unbroken string of SEC appearances in the national championship game.
Of course, if Tubs was even half as great a coach as he thinks he is, his Auburn program would’ve won the MNC in ’06 . . . and every year since then.
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I’m far from a fan of Auburn but they were undefeated. Heck we bitch about 2007 still. I can see their point.
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I think they have the best claim of all for that year, but that is all MNCs are, just claims and opinions. I consider them to be the strongest candidate for 2004’s “best team”, but that is often different than a champion. We will argue forever about who was “best” anything, but champions can be crowned if you ever get a playoff. Auburn’s claims for 2004 are as legit as any Bama has ever had, imo. I think Tubbs is right here but he may not the guy who should continually bring it up. I think most fans were pretty impressed with that 2004 team, far and away the best I have ever seen on the Plains.
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I actually think that USC team would have smoked Auburn in 2004. That team may have been the best of Pete Carroll’s early 2000’s mini-dynasty in Los Angeles. They absolutely destroyed OU and Big Game Bob in the BCS championship game. They were nasty on defense and had serious star power across the board on offense.
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Auburn wouldn’t have been within 20 points of that SC team….
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Agreed. The polls just saved Auburn the embarrassment of a beat down.
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i agree. SC was a step ahead of everyone else that year.
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How quickly Auburn forgets that USC smoked them just the year before at Auburn. Sc would’ve destroyed Auburn in 04 and Florida in 06 had they played. They were a juggernaut under Carroll and made a living not just beating but blowing out high profile out of conference teams. I believe Carroll’s only losses Ooc were Texas and Colorado.
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If I remember correctly, SC toyed with Auburn that night and beat them by 23.
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We will never know will we? I don’t disagree that USC was solid but so was Auburn. Historically, facts say Auburn would have won. Romping through the SEC unbeaten is the ultimate test, Auburn passed it, USC didn’t. Respect those who feel differently, everyone has a case for their opinion in this situation. Prior year matchups are not a relevant comparison though. Football is a very connective sport, and everything is reset when a new group is formed.
Another example where the fans were denied the opportunity to see memorable matchups because of anti-playoff thinking. One day, maybe 10 years or so, the barriers will be removed.
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I cant… its really simple – they were not ranked 1 or 2, didn’t play in the game – end of story. Whine all they want about going undefeated, its irrelevant.
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Auburn didn’t get media support in 2004 because they are serial cheaters and liars. No one disputes this.
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Just do it, Auburn. No one is stopping you.
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I hate that school so much.
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I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.
– Billie Jean King
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Awesome.
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Everybody who reads this blog regularly knows that I am probably the biggest critic of Auburn who posts here. The WarTigersPlainsmen cheat, pay players, ignore player discipline and generally are the crookedest program in the SEC, maybe in the entire nation. Have been for years. That said, the Cheatahs have at least as good a claim on the college football national championship for 2004 as Southern Cal had for 2003. They didn’t get to play in the BCSNCG for the ’04 season. Southern Cal didn’t get to play in the BCSNCG for the ’03 season. Each won their respective bowl games those seasons. Actually, Auburn has a better case because Southern Cal was disqualified in ’04 and since Oklahoma got thrashed (by Southern Cal) in the BCSNCG, Auburn ended that season as the only legitimate undefeated team in major college football that year. Tuberville’s got a real point. If it were Georgia instead of Auburn everyone on this blog would be saying the same things that Tubs is saying. I know I would.
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You bet, I feel the same way. In fact, they have a much stronger case than 2003 USC. Even though they are cheaters, so was USC…..and everyone know about Bush while it was going on and the NCAA pretended to not see.
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