Look, the AP continues to award a national championship despite the BCS. And every gives it equal weight. Sports Illustrated even came up with 2 different national championship issues -- one featuring USC, the other LSU. Virtually EVERYONE acknowledged USC as at least a share of the national championship in 2004 and virtually EVERYONE referred to them as back-to-back champions in 2005. If you don't want to acknowledge it, so be it. But those are the facts.
Lot's of polls do. It doesn't matter because the AP is a third party and USC signed on the deal where the BCS champion is the national champion.
Sports Illustrated even came up with 2 different national championship issues -- one featuring USC, the other LSU.
Because they knew that a lot of fanboys would buy it. You keep appealing to popularity in a case where USC signed a contract where the BCS champion would be the national champion. Auburn signed the same contract so they should have no complaint about last year - the system might not be great but it is the one that they signed on to.