Now, unfortunately, we will never know for sure, but in watching both teams, clearly, USC is the dominant team.
But because of the BC$, we'll never know.
Don't forget that in the '92-'93 championship game undefeated Alabama ( ranked 18th at the start of the season-like Auburn) were 18 point underdogs vs. #1 Miami. Bama stomped them by 21. You never really know what might happen in a game until it is played.
I remember that Sugar Bowl, I cleaned up by betting on 'Bama, and a bunch of stunned Miami fans. ;^)
I don't know if Auburn could have taken USC last night, but they would have given us all a better game than Oklahoma did. I went to bed before halftime. That being said, I don't think OU is as bad as they looked last night. A few really boneheaded plays in the first half turned it into a rout. The same can be said for SC, they're good, but they're not THAT good. VaTech, Cal, and even UCLA gave them all they could handle this season.
Aside from a playoff, which the bowls and school presidents are dead against, the best solution would be to wait until the middle of October before releasing polls. Get rid of the preseason rankings and wait until the season's roughly halfway over to give teams a chance to show they belong there. It's well past time that pollsters quit ranking teams based on the school's history rather than what they're actually doing in that season.