Auburn hopes to make case for No. 1
By Paul Newberry
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — Auburn has come too far to give up hope.
So, on the eve of tonight's Sugar Bowl, coach Tommy Tuberville made a familiar pitch: The third-ranked Tigers deserve at least a share of the national title if they beat No. 9 Virginia Tech.
"There are two national championship games," Tuberville said. "There's one here at the Sugar Bowl, and there's another one at the Orange Bowl."
Never mind that it's No. 1 Southern Cal vs. No. 2 Oklahoma in the Orange — and the winner of tomorrow night's game is assured of being voted BCS national champion in the coaches' poll.
Auburn's hopes are based on an unlikely scenario: The Tigers rout Virginia Tech, Oklahoma beats USC in an ugly game and enough writers in The Associated Press media poll opt to put Auburn ahead of the Sooners on their final ballots.
Said Tuberville: "Obviously, we feel like there's one more vote. We'll be auditioning."
Overlooked in this whole process is Virginia Tech (10-2).
The Hokies have heard all the talk about poor ol' Auburn. But a Virginia Tech victory would vindicate the Bowl Championship Series and allow the Orange Bowl to be played without a shred of controversy.
"Nobody's really giving us a chance," defensive end Noland Burchette said. "Nobody really expected us to do anything this year. Every commentator, every news reporter I see, they think it's going to be a blowout. We'll see."
Not that anyone on the Auburn side has done anything to denigrate the Hokies. If anything, the Tigers have gone out of their way portray Virginia Tech as being just as good as those teams that made it to Miami.
All part of the political process.
"They probably should have beaten USC," Auburn center Jeremy Ingle said. "If not for some phantom interference call" — a disputed penalty against the Hokies — "they'd probably be undefeated right now. Then, we'd all be talking about us, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma."
Auburn is 12-0 and finds itself shut out of the reputed national championship game, but its players still have some hope.
"If we lose this game, everyone will say, 'See, we told you. USC and Oklahoma were the best teams,' " Ingle said. "If we do good, win by 20 or 30 points, and Oklahoma and USC play to a zero-zero tie, maybe there's a chance we'll win it."
