If Auburn had bothered to play anyone noteworty on its non-conference schedule then they could have made a better beef.
The scary thing is that USC has 16/22 starters coming back next year as well as Reggie Bush. This is a team that should repeat next year and possibly 2006.
They remind me of the lat 80's early 90's Miami teams without the ghetto gansta' behavior.
If Leinart and Bush return, SC will return every single offensive starter except for John Drake...plus they will have Winston Justice back on the offensive line. They would be unbeatable next year...another wire-to-wire performance.
Auburn's conference schedule is tough enough- unlike the Pac 10.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Coverage |
| 2 | Sat., Sep 4 | Louisiana-Monroe | W 31-0 | |
| 3 | Sat., Sep 11 | @Mississippi State | W 43-14 | |
| 4 | Sat., Sep 18 | LSU | W 10-9 | |
| 5 | Sat., Sep 25 | Citadel | W 33-3 | |
| 6 | Sat., Oct 2 | @Tennessee | W 34-10 | |
| 7 | Sat., Oct 9 | Louisiana Tech | W 52-7 | |
| 8 | Sat., Oct 16 | Arkansas | W 38-20 | |
| 9 | Sat., Oct 23 | Kentucky | W 42-10 | |
| 10 | Sat., Oct 30 | @Mississippi | W 35-14 | |
| 12 | Sat., Nov 13 | Georgia | W 24-6 | |
| 13 | Sat., Nov 20 | @Alabama | W 21-13 | |
| 15 | Sat., Dec 4 | @Tennessee | W 38-28 | |
| 19 | Mon., Jan 3 | Sugar Bowl Virginia Tech |
W 16-13 | |
|
Didn't 6 of those teams go to Bowls? |
Both Bush and White are returning from the backfield. And USC has had among the top recruting classes the past few years.
I don't think so. Auburn was condemned to finish where they did simply because USC and Oklahoma were ahead of them in the pre-season polls and would remain there as long as they kept winning.
Auburn finished the season 12-0 in what is undoubtedly the toughest conference in the nation (the SEC). That conference had five teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation at the end of the season before the bowl games began (I believe they were Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and LSU). That's pretty amazing -- one out of every four teams in the top 20 were from the SEC.
From what I understand, Oklahoma only played three ranked teams all year long Texas, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M) -- one of which (Oklahoma State) was no longer ranked by the end of the year. They didn't impress me at all this year, which is why I wasn't surprised by the 55-19 debacle last night.
Playing The Citadel, a 1-AA team, was probably enough to keep AU out of the championship game. To their credit, that one wasn't their fault. They were scheduled to play Bowling Green, but Bowling Green backed out of the contract when they had an opportunity to play, you guessed it, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma has a great program going, but they were totally outclassed last night. And Jason White is the single biggest example of overrated hype I've ever seen. IMO the guy was never anything special at all, much less deserving of the Heisman. It's a joke that someone who is widely considered not to be a serious pro prospect, is yet somehow the best back in college football. That's absurd on its face, and always has been.
MM
But they shouldn't have had to make any "beef." They should have been given the opportunity to play USC instead of that overrated Oklahoma team.
Throw in AA OT Terrence Wisdom (starter on 03 NC team) who was suspended this season and they have 17/22 starters. They remind me very much of the late 80's early 90's Miami powerhouse teams and yes they are good kids. PC has done a great job.
Disingenious assumption, Auburn was suppost to play Stanford instead of The Citidal, but Bowling Green bought out their contract (for about $20,000, which is too low a price) to play OU. Auburn offered them the same amount to not drop them, but BG refused.
When you make the statement that Auburn didn't "Bother" to play better people, you completely ignore the facts that AU was left and the last second to find anybody they could to fill it's schedule and at the last second you don't exactly have the cream of the crop to pick from.
Admit it ! Auburn got the shaft and BG was in on it.