AUBURN FANS know exactly how Joe Jacobs must've felt. Jacobs, a boxing manager, coined the adage "We wuz robbed!" back in 1932. His fighter, Max Schmeling, had just lost a controversial split decision to pugilist Jack Sharkey. Since then, myriad athletic teams have adopted Jacobs's phrase to explain their heartbreaking near misses.
The 2004 Auburn Tigers football team is now one of them. Auburn went 13-0, won the SEC championship, and defeated then-No. 9-ranked Virginia Tech in Monday's Sugar Bowl. But the Tigers will have to settle for that. The final AP poll places them No. 2 in the country. The USC Trojans, who routed Oklahoma in Tuesday's Orange Bowl (the BCS title game), are the undisputed national champions.
So Auburn now makes the list of teams who finished with perfect records but didn't win at least a share of the national title. And, by my lights, the 2004 Auburn squad is one of the top five greatest undefeated, uncrowned teams in the modern college football era (i.e. since the 1960s). Those teams include:
The 1966 Alabama Crimson Tide. Legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's team won back-to-back national titles and SEC championships in 1964 and 1965. Naturally, 'Bama began the 1966 season ranked No. 1 in the polls. The Tide went on to post a blemish-free 11-0 record for the first time since 1961. They also three-peated as SEC champs. But Notre Dame finished at No. 1, despite its 10-10 tie with No. 2 Michigan State.
The 1973 Penn State Nittany Lions. Coach Joe Paterno's 1973 team boasted more than half a dozen All-Americans, at least 10 players chosen in the 1974 NFL Draft, and Penn State's only Heisman Trophy winner, tailback John Cappelletti. The Nittany Lions finished 12-0, crushing LSU in the Orange Bowl. Two previous Penn State squads--in 1968 and 1969--had gone unbeaten. But the 1973 team was probably the best of all.
The 1993 Auburn Tigers. After the 1993 season, Auburn stood as the only perfect team (11-0) in Division 1-A. Coach Terry Bowden became the first 1-A coach to go both undefeated and untied in his rookie season. (Bowden earned a unanimous National Coach of the Year award.) But due to NCAA sanctions, the Tigers were ineligible for a bowl game, banned from television, and eliminated from the USA Today/CNN coaches' poll. They were also ineligible for the SEC conference title game. Still, Auburn beat the two teams--Florida and Alabama--that ultimately did meet for the SEC crown.
The 1994 Penn State Nittany Lions. Hands down the best undefeated team that didn't win it all. Paterno's '94 squad claimed the most explosive offense in the nation, the top all-around player (tailback Ki-Jana Carter), a Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl victory, and a spotless 12-0 record. So why weren't the Nittany Lions champs? Three words: the Indiana Hoosiers. Penn State was ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/CNN coaches' poll heading into a November game versus Indiana. The Lions jumped to a 28-7 lead early in the fourth quarter. It soon became 35-14. Paterno removed some of his starters, lest they run up the score. (The previous week, Penn State had trounced the Ohio State Buckeyes 63-14--and Paterno had caught heat for the margin of the blowout.)
With less than two minutes to go, the Hoosiers scored. Then, on the game's final play, Indiana QB Chris Dittoe completed a 40-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass, followed by a two-point conversion. So it ended 35-29--a most misleading final score, in what had been a relatively lopsided contest. But because Penn State's victory appeared narrow, the USA Today/CNN pollsters knocked the Lions down to No. 2 and elevated Nebraska to No. 1. The Cornhuskers never fell from that spot, beating Miami in the Orange Bowl to cap a perfect 13-0 season.
My money says Penn State would've taken the Huskers in a playoff game. Of course, I'm sure that's what Auburn fans are now saying about their team and USC. Much like Penn State backers a decade ago, the Auburn faithful can legitimately echo Joe Jacobs: "We wuz robbed!"
Duncan Currie is an editorial assistant at The Weekly Standard.