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Article basically gives Tubbs and Auburn (getting screwed in 2004) at least partial credit for a college football playoff!

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/12002638/an-oral-history-college-football-playoff

Auburn had been shut out of the championship game despite its 12-0 record, an SEC title and three wins against top-10 opponents. USC and Oklahoma, which began the season ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the polls, ran the table as well. Auburn opened the season outside the top 15 and could never enter the top two, sparking outrage from SEC circles and elsewhere.

Tuberville knew the 2004 team would never be together like this again, so the Tigers coach ditched his typical postseason spiel.

"Guys, here's the deal," he began. "You guys started something tonight that will change college football. It's going to take five, 10, 15, 20 years, but because of what this group did, went undefeated, it opened the eyes of people across the country.

"How do you give a national championship to somebody when there's another team out there undefeated?"

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Wow, it failed to mention that Herbstreit was one of the most vocal saying we didn't deserve to be in the title game? Each week he kept saying he wanted us to see if we could be whoever we were playing that week. When we didn't blow out our most heated rival at their stadium he used that as proof we shouldn't be considered. I wonder why all that was left out?...

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Wow, it failed to mention that Herbstreit was one of the most vocal saying we didn't deserve to be in the title game? Each week he kept saying he wanted us to see if we could be whoever we were playing that week. When we didn't blow out our most heated rival at their stadium he used that as proof we shouldn't be considered. I wonder why all that was left out?...

ESPN political correctness requires them to never put Espn in a bad light. And they never apologize for past mistakes and incorrect espn stories.

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Wow, it failed to mention that Herbstreit was one of the most vocal saying we didn't deserve to be in the title game? Each week he kept saying he wanted us to see if we could be whoever we were playing that week. When we didn't blow out our most heated rival at their stadium he used that as proof we shouldn't be considered. I wonder why all that was left out?...

Good point!
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Herbsteit was a MAJOR culprit in 2004. Also, the article says we beat 3 top 10 teams - we beat 5 teams that were in the top 10 when we played them, most late in the season (South Carolina twice...their only 2 losses in '04...UGA, Bama and Va Tech in the Sugar Bowl). The media dynamic worked against us in '04 of West Coast media drooling over USC & Pete Carroll (they're still doing it) and the bad SEC taste left in the media mouth from 2003 from Saban's first backed-into national title with an LSU team that lost at home to Ron Zook's worse than their record 8-5 Gator squad.

Interesting note, no college in the state of Florida (10 national titles) has EVER beaten 3 final top 10 teams in the regular season.

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ESPN influenced the matchup that year , every week Auburn won Herbstreit and Corso toed the company line and said thats great but lets see what they do next , until finally we ran out of challenges. Then the excuse was our OOC matchups were weak?

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Herbsteit was a MAJOR culprit in 2004. Also, the article says we beat 3 top 10 teams - we beat 5 teams that were in the top 10 when we played them, most late in the season (South Carolina twice...their only 2 losses in '04...UGA, Bama and Va Tech in the Sugar Bowl). The media dynamic worked against us in '04 of West Coast media drooling over USC & Pete Carroll (they're still doing it) and the bad SEC taste left in the media mouth from 2003 from Saban's first backed-into national title with an LSU team that lost at home to Ron Zook's worse than their record 8-5 Gator squad.

Interesting note, no college in the state of Florida (10 national titles) has EVER beaten 3 final top 10 teams in the regular season.

we didn't play south Carolina in 04. We beat Tennessee twice and they also lost another game to Notre dame, i think.
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The 2004 team was fantastic. It was finally a realization of the talent that had been there for some time. In the few close games they had (LSU, Alabama, 2nd game vs. Tennessee, Sugar Bowl vs. VA Tech) they found what they had to do to win. The LSU game was absolutely a classic. That is all you can say about that one. I mean the Alabama game is the Iron Bowl. It amazes me how commentators can talk about "records" don't matter in that game and then turn around and publicly renounce Auburn for winning a game they completely dominated from about middle of the 2nd quarter on. The SECCG vs. Tennesse was against a team they had already beaten and whose only only other loss out of their 3 total losses was to an inspired Notre Dame team who had knocked their starter at QB out of the game. That was a very talented UT team. The VA Tech game was lopsided until late when they hit a couple of big plays because Tubbs refused to take Zach Gilbert out of the game. I am not sure very many teams could have beaten USC at the level they played against Oklahoma that night, but I will always believe AU would have had a GREAT shot.

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I look back at the Tuberville era with a lot of mixed feelings. We were fortunate to catch Bama at their darkest since the 50s, and we lost a lot of games we shouldn't have. I will always say though that other than Dye and Jordan, no coach has done more for Auburn football. The 2004 team was the best in the nation and our defenses were always sound. Coach holding up the 6 fingers after the Iron Bowl will always be one of my favorite football memories. I don't think he should have been forced out after 2008, but I'm happy with where weve come since then.

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Thanks, yep, Tenn was 2004 (we beat twice including in the SEC title game) and S. Carolina was 2010 (we beat twice including the SEC title game). Point nevertheless stands that in 2004 we beat 4 (four) teams that were top 10 when we played them (#5 LSU, #10 Tenn, #8 UGA and #9 VT) to our 12 undefeated seasons and... 2 national titles.

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Oh, and by the way, the total dismantling of a very good Georgia team in 04 was one of the most complete games ever played by an AU team.

Amen! Much more dominant than the score indicated.
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I have mixed feelings about the Tuberville era as well. I never understood how they got up for big games (01 Florida, 02 Alabama, 06 LSU, 06 and 07 Florida, etc.) but then had trouble getting up for games like Arkansas and would get blown out.

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I have mixed feelings about the Tuberville era as well. I never understood how they got up for big games (01 Florida, 02 Alabama, 06 LSU, 06 and 07 Florida, etc.) but then had trouble getting up for games like Arkansas and would get blown out.

His teams did the same thing at Texas Tech.....he'd knock off a highly ranked Oklahoma then lose to say Kansas or Iowa State,

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Yeah, 04 was amazing, I had season tickets and was at the SECCG. I watched the UT game on TV, as we played in Knoxville. We were on fire that night, or as Sir Charles said, we were the train at the end of the tunnel! I actually broke my parents new love seat they had just bought like the day before from jumping up and down so much as we scored!

And the UGA game, being there, I remember two things: the half-back pass and the ferocious knock out hit.

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I believe tubbs put ALOT of reliance on senior leadership. As a CEO type coach he let the seniors be the emotional heartbeat.

I remember he used to talk about senior leadership tons.

My guess is the kids got up for the big games and they implemented the coaching that tubbs put in. On those head scratching losses, the kids were not jacked up and we lost.

Just my theory

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Herbsteit was a MAJOR culprit in 2004. Also, the article says we beat 3 top 10 teams - we beat 5 teams that were in the top 10 when we played them, most late in the season (South Carolina twice...their only 2 losses in '04...UGA, Bama and Va Tech in the Sugar Bowl). The media dynamic worked against us in '04 of West Coast media drooling over USC & Pete Carroll (they're still doing it) and the bad SEC taste left in the media mouth from 2003 from Saban's first backed-into national title with an LSU team that lost at home to Ron Zook's worse than their record 8-5 Gator squad.

Interesting note, no college in the state of Florida (10 national titles) has EVER beaten 3 final top 10 teams in the regular season.

And won't this year regardless of results (unless GT destroys Miss St but c'mon)

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ESPN influenced the matchup that year , every week Auburn won Herbstreit and Corso toed the company line and said thats great but lets see what they do next , until finally we ran out of challenges. Then the excuse was our OOC matchups were weak?

Absolutely correct. And I'll never forget it. I'm still mad at Herbstreit. It was like an excercise instructor. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when KH said, "If they beat UGA, then they have my #2." Then "if they beat UAT..." Then nothing...

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ESPN influenced the matchup that year , every week Auburn won Herbstreit and Corso toed the company line and said thats great but lets see what they do next , until finally we ran out of challenges. Then the excuse was our OOC matchups were weak?

Absolutely correct. And I'll never forget it. I'm still mad at Herbstreit. It was like an excercise instructor. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when KH said, "If they beat UGA, then they have my #2." Then "if they beat UAT..." Then nothing...

Yeah, I remember that too. I was at the IB that year and had a feeling, because of how the game went, we would not be in the top two.

Still a bad taste now.

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ESPN influenced the matchup that year , every week Auburn won Herbstreit and Corso toed the company line and said thats great but lets see what they do next , until finally we ran out of challenges. Then the excuse was our OOC matchups were weak?

Absolutely correct. And I'll never forget it. I'm still mad at Herbstreit. It was like an excercise instructor. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when KH said, "If they beat UGA, then they have my #2." Then "if they beat UAT..." Then nothing...

After we beat bama, it was that we didn't beat them badly enough. He was searching for anything to keep us out of the conversation.

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We were also penalized in the voter's minds for the fact that we had played USC(and by USC, I mean theTrojans in Southern California, not the wanna-bes with the crowing rooster) the two years prior, the first of which we lost to Carson Palmer. who led a come from behind effort and won the freakin' Heisman that same year! and the following year we lost in the shutout game. We were in fact IMO, held out because the SEC dominance was just beginning to be known across the country as well as it is here in the SEC, and we had lost the two previous years to USC, and no one wanted to give us another opportunity.

my personal favorite was the time Oklahoma got their asses handed to them by Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game 52-14 or so, AND THEY STILL GOT TO PLAY IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALSO, WE BEAT TENNESSEE TWICE IN THE SAME YEAR AND TENNESSEE PLAYERS WERE STILL TELLING THE REPORTERS THAT THEY WERE STILL THE BETTER TEAM! :realmad:

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Tuberville is still my favorite AU Coach ever! If we could have the same 10 year record over and over I would sign up today!

I always liked Tubbs too! I would love for him to come back to AU in some capacity one day.

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Tuberville is still my favorite AU Coach ever! If we could have the same 10 year record over and over I would sign up today!

7 wins a year?
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