The 2003 college football season was the truly controversial first season for the Bowl Championship Series. Three teams – LSU, Oklahoma and USC had only one loss and had every right to play in the championship game. BCS ranked third from USC in final polls despite taking first place in AP and Coaches polls. However, by finishing third in the BCS, they were left out of the final game. The USC victory secured a portion of the national title, but they were forced to share it with LSU automatically winning the coaches poll by winning the BCS National Championship.

The following year, 2004, brought an even bigger dilemma. Three teams from the BCS conferences finished the season undefeated. USC won the Pac 10; Oklahoma won the Big 12 and Auburn won the SEC. Although the SEC was thought to be the toughest conference of that year, Auburn did not receive a high rating at the beginning of the season and never outperformed USC or OU in the BCS rankings. This left undefeated Auburn without a chance to play for the national title. USC then demolished OU 55-19, and the AP voted it number one, and Auburn didn’t even get a share of the title. Auburn went through a glove in the SEC, remained undefeated and was not even given a chance to play for the championship. Auburn went on to beat Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl to finish the season undefeated. Utah was also undefeated in 2004, but since they were from the smaller Mountain West Conference, they were dwarfed by the other three teams.

Auburn’s biggest problem was that they didn’t look good enough in spring practice. Despite the BCS trying to limit preseason insights, USC and OU began season one and two, respectively, in the AP and Coaches’ Polls, which account for two-thirds of the BCS formula. Auburn started 17th in the AP and 18th in the Coaches poll. Despite winning all of their games, they were never able to jump USC or OU and thus were left out of the big game.