If OU played Auburn in the 2004 national title game, who would have won?
Berry Tramel blogged today about how an OU-Auburn 2004 national championship game would have played out. And it wasn’t pretty, in his opinion.
Years later, Bob Stoops and others admitted those ’04 Sooners lost focus on their final game, that he sensed many (unnamed) marquee players seemed to have one foot out the door in the weeks leading up to that Orange Bowl. NFL careers and paydays, not the Trojans, were at the forefront of OU’s psyche.
That’s a character flaw in a team and completely unrelated to USC. If the Sooners couldn’t get ready to compete with the Trojans, how could OU get ready to compete with Auburn?
That Auburn team was dominant in an unspectacular way. In the regular season, the Tigers played just two games decided by single digits — 10-9 over defending national champion LSU and 21-13 at Alabama, which finished 6-6. Auburn’s non-conference schedule was weak — Louisiana-Monroe, the Citadel and Louisiana Tech — which explains why USC and OU were picked to play in the title game.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with Berry? Read the rest of his blog here.
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