Al Borges, former Auburn assistant, makes case for why Tigers should claim 2004 title
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Al Borges was Auburn’s offensive coordinator back in 2004 when the Tigers felt they were wrongly denied a chance to compete for the BCS national championship.
Instead, USC beat Oklahoma in the title game. But, USC eventually had to vacate that title, and Borges thinks someone else — Auburn — should claim it.
During a debate on “The Paul Finebaum Show” this week, Borges explained his case (via On3 Sports):
“Whether people want to admit it or not, the game the year before did have a little effect,” said Borges. “And we were a completely different team, that’s an unfair analogy, but I think that might have had a little bit to do with it. But SC kind of eliminated themselves with their problems, and that’s really the case that (Tommy Tuberville) makes is: SC’s not even a factor because they supposedly caught their hand in the cookie jar.
“So who’s the best team now? Honestly speaking, I don’t – with all due respect to Oklahoma – Oklahoma did not match up well with SC. I don’t believe Oklahoma could have beat us but I don’t believe SC could have beat us, it doesn’t matter. And Utah was the other one, and I don’t think they could’ve beat us either so why would you vacate a championship when you have a champion. We won every single game, we did not have any recruiting violations. We had no issues.
“Did Reggie Bush’s playing for USC, is that the difference in 55-19, I don’t know. Maybe it is, but I doubt it. So we should be the national champions. I see no rational reason why we shouldn’t be. But you know, my version is a little slanted. To leave the 2004 championship vacated when there should have been, when there is a champion, I think is absurd. But I don’t make that call.”
That’s certainly an interesting argument! We’ll see if the Auburn administration ever decides to claim the title.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
