justincredible;386162 wrote:The only sensible solution is for the players from OU and Auburn to suit up again and settle it on the field.
Haha. I was actually thinking of suggesting the same thing. Get the old teams back together with the old coaching staffs and play it on the field. As I recall someone back then (Dr. Pepper maybe?) offered a lot of money to see Auburn and USC play after the bowl game. Maybe we could make it happen.
TheMightyGators;386151 wrote:I feel like Oklahoma shouldn't be considered the National Champions, because they did in fact get blown out in the NC game to USC. From what I have read/heard the violations did not give them a competitive advantage on the field. I know that can be argued, but it doesn't change my opinion on that game and what happened to Oklahoma. A lot of people feel like Auburn got screwed that year, and since we've seen what the SEC champion has done the past 4 seasons, and the fact that Auburn didn't get the chance to play for it all, I would have no problem naming them the National Champion of that year. We all know it will never happen, so really no sense even talking about it. And yes if the roles were reversed and Auburn got blown out in that game, and OU didn't get the opportunity then I feel they could be considered the NC of that year.
Yes, Oklahoma got blown out by USC but Auburn also barely squeaked by Virginia Tech 16-13 winning by a mere field goal. I'm not so sure that Auburn would have fared any better than Oklahoma did against USC. Auburn won by an average of 21 points that season and Oklahoma by an average of 24. It's so difficult to say that Auburn would have done better against USC or that they would have beaten Oklahoma had they played each other in the title game. The fact remains that prior to the bowl games most voters felt that Oklahoma was better than Auburn and therefore more deserving that Auburn to play for the National Championship.
As far as a competitive advantage on the field goes, first, that doesn't really matter since USC technically forfeited all of the games that season leading up to that game. Also, Reggie Bush has now been declared retroactively ineligible. Bush accounted for 20% of USC's offense in that title game. I'd say having him on the field when he should have been ineligible was a pretty substantial competitive advantage.
Now I'm not saying that they shouldn't give it to Auburn, I just think that if the AP doesn't just vacate it and decides to give it to someone else then Oklahoma has just as much if not more of a claim to it than Auburn. If they don't vacate the championship then the AP should declare both Oklahoma and Auburn co-champions because there's no way to know who would have actually won if they had played.