The True Champions

Recently, the NCAA decided the fate of the USC athletic program. The penalty was harsh and undoubtedly deserved. Southern Cal has been the gold standard for cheating in college sports in this past decade. The NCAA ruled that now New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush's mother stayed in a classy San Diego area home while Bush was a Trojan. The problem was that Bush's mother wasn't paying rent. Memphis Grizzlies guard OJ Mayo went on shopping sprees worth thousands of dollars during his year at USC. The credit card that Mayo used to make those purchases was the credit line of a non-profit charitable organization. Unfortunately, the organization didn't exist and the credit card was given to him by an individual who had already been reprimanded for shady dealings with USC basketball players. This particular bad guy, an agency runner by the name of Rodney Guillory, was a frequent visitor to the USC basketball offices despite the fact that he had already ruined the eligibility of a former Trojan hoops star named Jeff Trepagnier.

There's no other way to put it. The Trojans cheated. It should be time for USC to give back two trophies that they don't deserve.

It was suspected that the Trojans football program would have to vacate their 2004 National Championship season. The BCS is currently debating their decision on the fate of the 2004 championship. If USC is stripped, the BCS will proclaim the title as being vacant. The Associated Press has made the decision to allow the Trojans to keep their title. The decision was made in direct contradiction to a decision made by the AP earlier this year.

When Houston Texans rookie linebacker Brian Cushing tested positive for a banned substance, the AP decided that a re-vote would decide the fate of Cushing's Rookie of the Year award that he had won months prior.

If the AP followed their earlier precedent, a re-vote would have found the Auburn Tigers to be the true national champions of the 2004 season.

To refresh your memory, the 2004 season was the season that the BCS code was finally cracked by a team outside of the power six confidences. Utah finished undefeated by thrashing Pitt in the Fiesta Bowl, and Auburn capped off an undefeated season by knocking off Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Neither of these teams got the chance to play for a title. That right was taken away by USC and their ineligible star player, Reggie Bush. Boise State and Oklahoma also finished the 2004 regular season undefeated, but Boise State lost one of the best bowl games ever to Louisville, and Oklahoma got drilled by USC in the title game.

If the AP had enough backbone to re-vote, the Auburn Tigers would be the new champ for the 2004 season. The Tigers ran through the best conference in the country, and beat a really good team in their bowl game. Retrospectively, that Tigers team even produced a ton of future pros that are still playing on Sundays.

In a perfect world the 2004 national championship would have been awarded to a team that didn't cheat....or at least had the decency not to get caught.

The AP had a chance to crown a true champion...and they blew it.