Though it’s not likely to mean much to them, we here at the Times-Journal are officially naming the Auburn Tigers our College Football National Champions for the 2004 season.

There’s not a trophy and it’s the first and probably last time we will bestow such an honor, but it’s just too hard to watch this team blaze a 13-0 record through the SEC and wind up without a National Championship of some kind.

There has been a lot written about the various and sundry travesties manifested on the fine young men from Auburn this season.

They have beaten every opponent placed in front of them, four Top 10 teams, Tennessee twice, Virginia Tech, LSU and Georgia.

This team has won with heart and class as much as offense and defense.

Still they have watched as USC and Oklahoma reaped the accolades and marched to the “National Championship” game last night in Miami, which quickly turned into USC beating the dog out of Oklahoma.

Auburn is a team filled with players who were not household names coming into the season.

It is a team that lost two of their biggest stars to the NFL draft and a team that most thought would take a step back this season.

Surprise.

The addition of a round offensive coordinator from the West Coast added to an experienced offense proved to be a lethal combination for the poor opponents that found themselves facing the Tigers.

The Tigers have proven themselves time and again to be both a great football team and a team of great people.

At the least, the Tigers deserved the chance to prove themselves worthy against the Mighty Trojans of USC.

At the end of the day, whether they get the shiny glass trophy or not, the 13-0 Tigers are undefeated and champions of the SEC.

They gave everything they had this season and left nothing on the field, like champions.