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1983 Auburn Tigers: The biggest hosing in modern CFB history
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:01 am
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:01 am
Let's frame the narrative in cliff note fashion before the stats get brought into this:
1983 Auburn plays the #1 SOS in the nation and loses one game, the second of the season to #2 Texas. Auburn enters bowl season ranked #3 in the nation behind Tom Osbourne's 1983 Nebraska team (#1) and the same Texas team (#2).
1983 Nebraska loses on a failed two point conversion in a fantastic game to #5 Miami, and #2 Texas loses to Georgia (who Auburn just beat a few weeks prior). #3 Auburn knocks off #8 Michigan in the Sugar Bowl in a defensive showdown.
At this point, even on its surface it stands to reason that with #1 and #2 both knocked out, #3 Auburn should move up the ranks. But no, #5 Miami jumps Auburn. Why? Because the game was exciting and they knocked off a great team while Auburn's game wasn't as exciting.
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But the injustice only gets worse when you delve into the stats:
Auburn vs. Miami
1983 Miami played three ranked teams all season.
1983 Auburn played five ranked teams in their last five games. They played six throughout the season.
1983 Miami lost to #6 Florida 28-3 in their first game of the season. 1983 Auburn beat that same Florida team 28-21 to start their run against those ranked teams.
1983 Auburn played ten teams with winning records and eight of them went to bowl games. They beat three top 10 teams to Miami's one, and beat twice as many teams that finished 8-4 or better than Miami.
Miami beat the #2, #16, and #20 teams. Auburn beat the #4, #6, #7, #15, and #25 (for Maryland in some polls) teams. That may not look like much of a difference, but Auburn also beat 9-3 Tennessee, who should have been rated ahead of 8-4 Alabama (#15), whom Tennessee defeated. Auburn also beat 8-4 Maryland, who lost only to rated teams and to Tennessee, and who defeated #18 Boston College. That's 6 teams Auburn beat that should have been rated in the top 20, and it leaves Miami with only 2, because #20 East Carolina (8-3) did not belong in the top 20 in the first place (they lost to an unranked opponent, and their best win came over 7-5 Missouri). And East Carolina brings up another issue, because Miami only beat them 12-7, late in the season and at home. Auburn beat Tennessee 37-14 and Maryland 35-23.
Other than Nebraska, the best team Miami beat was #16 West Virginia. And it is highly unlikely that they would have beaten Nebraska had that game been played in any other bowl, or if Nebraska had kicked the tying extra point. I think Auburn's defeat of 3 top 10 teams is more impressive, especially since those 3 games came in a season-ending streak of 5 consecutive tough games that also included 8-4 Maryland and #15 Alabama. That 5-game gauntlet alone is more impressive than the best opponents of Miami's entire season.
Therefore, there is no doubt, in my mind at least, that Auburn should have been #1. But that's just my mind. Let's look closer and see if there is a case for what was in the majority of sportswriters' minds at the time.
Auburn vs. Texas
The next point that I'm forced to go into is that of the one loss 1983 Texas Longhorns that defeated 1983 Auburn in the second game of the season. Seeing how both teams finished with one loss, this might seem like Texas got a bit of a shaft.
However, for some, it is a big deal that Texas lost the last game of the season to #7 Georgia. The same Georgia team that, as mentioned above, Auburn defeated in the game before the Iron Bowl in 1983.
For others, this is not a convincing argument and we need to look at the resume of Texas that year:
They played the following ranked teams:
#3 Auburn (W 20-7)
#11 SMU (W 15-12)
#7 Georgia (L 9-10)
They only played three ranked teams the entire season. To put in bluntly, this schedule was not good, and doesn't hold a candle to the schedule Auburn played through. For comparison again, Auburn's scheduled consisted of:
#4 Texas (L 7-20)
#6 Florida (W 28-21)
#25 Maryland (W 35-23)
#7 Georgia (W 13-7)
#15 Alabama (W 23-20)
#8 Michigan (W 9-7)
This doesn't even count Tennessee, that finished 9-3 and should have been ranked, defeated Maryland in their bowl game that year.
Auburn vs. Nebraska.
The 1983 Nebraska resume consists of:
#17 (Coaches) Penn State (W 24-3)
#13 (Coaches)/#17(AP) UCLA (W 42-10)
#18 Oklahoma State (W 14-10)
#1 Miami (L 30-31)
Their resume also doesn't stack up to Auburn's and is probably the overall weakest SOS of any of the teams mentioned.
In short, 1983 Auburn got hosed. Miami and Texas should have been fighting for the #2 spot behind them that season.
1983 Auburn plays the #1 SOS in the nation and loses one game, the second of the season to #2 Texas. Auburn enters bowl season ranked #3 in the nation behind Tom Osbourne's 1983 Nebraska team (#1) and the same Texas team (#2).
1983 Nebraska loses on a failed two point conversion in a fantastic game to #5 Miami, and #2 Texas loses to Georgia (who Auburn just beat a few weeks prior). #3 Auburn knocks off #8 Michigan in the Sugar Bowl in a defensive showdown.
At this point, even on its surface it stands to reason that with #1 and #2 both knocked out, #3 Auburn should move up the ranks. But no, #5 Miami jumps Auburn. Why? Because the game was exciting and they knocked off a great team while Auburn's game wasn't as exciting.
______________________________________
But the injustice only gets worse when you delve into the stats:
Auburn vs. Miami
1983 Miami played three ranked teams all season.
1983 Auburn played five ranked teams in their last five games. They played six throughout the season.
1983 Miami lost to #6 Florida 28-3 in their first game of the season. 1983 Auburn beat that same Florida team 28-21 to start their run against those ranked teams.
1983 Auburn played ten teams with winning records and eight of them went to bowl games. They beat three top 10 teams to Miami's one, and beat twice as many teams that finished 8-4 or better than Miami.
Miami beat the #2, #16, and #20 teams. Auburn beat the #4, #6, #7, #15, and #25 (for Maryland in some polls) teams. That may not look like much of a difference, but Auburn also beat 9-3 Tennessee, who should have been rated ahead of 8-4 Alabama (#15), whom Tennessee defeated. Auburn also beat 8-4 Maryland, who lost only to rated teams and to Tennessee, and who defeated #18 Boston College. That's 6 teams Auburn beat that should have been rated in the top 20, and it leaves Miami with only 2, because #20 East Carolina (8-3) did not belong in the top 20 in the first place (they lost to an unranked opponent, and their best win came over 7-5 Missouri). And East Carolina brings up another issue, because Miami only beat them 12-7, late in the season and at home. Auburn beat Tennessee 37-14 and Maryland 35-23.
Other than Nebraska, the best team Miami beat was #16 West Virginia. And it is highly unlikely that they would have beaten Nebraska had that game been played in any other bowl, or if Nebraska had kicked the tying extra point. I think Auburn's defeat of 3 top 10 teams is more impressive, especially since those 3 games came in a season-ending streak of 5 consecutive tough games that also included 8-4 Maryland and #15 Alabama. That 5-game gauntlet alone is more impressive than the best opponents of Miami's entire season.
Therefore, there is no doubt, in my mind at least, that Auburn should have been #1. But that's just my mind. Let's look closer and see if there is a case for what was in the majority of sportswriters' minds at the time.
Auburn vs. Texas
The next point that I'm forced to go into is that of the one loss 1983 Texas Longhorns that defeated 1983 Auburn in the second game of the season. Seeing how both teams finished with one loss, this might seem like Texas got a bit of a shaft.
However, for some, it is a big deal that Texas lost the last game of the season to #7 Georgia. The same Georgia team that, as mentioned above, Auburn defeated in the game before the Iron Bowl in 1983.
For others, this is not a convincing argument and we need to look at the resume of Texas that year:
They played the following ranked teams:
#3 Auburn (W 20-7)
#11 SMU (W 15-12)
#7 Georgia (L 9-10)
They only played three ranked teams the entire season. To put in bluntly, this schedule was not good, and doesn't hold a candle to the schedule Auburn played through. For comparison again, Auburn's scheduled consisted of:
#4 Texas (L 7-20)
#6 Florida (W 28-21)
#25 Maryland (W 35-23)
#7 Georgia (W 13-7)
#15 Alabama (W 23-20)
#8 Michigan (W 9-7)
This doesn't even count Tennessee, that finished 9-3 and should have been ranked, defeated Maryland in their bowl game that year.
Auburn vs. Nebraska.
The 1983 Nebraska resume consists of:
#17 (Coaches) Penn State (W 24-3)
#13 (Coaches)/#17(AP) UCLA (W 42-10)
#18 Oklahoma State (W 14-10)
#1 Miami (L 30-31)
Their resume also doesn't stack up to Auburn's and is probably the overall weakest SOS of any of the teams mentioned.
In short, 1983 Auburn got hosed. Miami and Texas should have been fighting for the #2 spot behind them that season.
This post was edited on 6/23/17 at 11:09 am
31
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:03 am to Ross
I'm not reading all that but we got screwed
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:03 am to Ross
Beating those Nebraska teams back then was a MUCH bigger deal than anyone Auburn beat.
You whiny Aubies can't see that this is a "Nebraska was that great" issue rather than an "Auburn can't get no respect" issue.
Or maybe it really WAS a slight to Auburn because they're not (or weren't) a national brand.
You whiny Aubies can't see that this is a "Nebraska was that great" issue rather than an "Auburn can't get no respect" issue.
Or maybe it really WAS a slight to Auburn because they're not (or weren't) a national brand.
This post was edited on 6/23/17 at 11:06 am
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:04 am to Ross
I'd put this second after Alabama in 1966.
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:05 am to Eli Goldfinger
who was 1983 Nebraska's best win?
the 7-4-1 UCLA team or the 8-4-1 Penn State team?
maybe the 8-4 Oklahoma State team?
the 7-4-1 UCLA team or the 8-4-1 Penn State team?
maybe the 8-4 Oklahoma State team?
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:06 am to Ross
Two time defending national champ Alabama was not awarded the national championship following an undefeated season in 1966. As for the legitimacy of the 64 and 65 titles, I wasn't actually alive for those seasons
This post was edited on 6/23/17 at 11:08 am
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:07 am to Ross
I have long gotten over bad things that happened to me in 1983. Hell, I have gotten over stuff that happened in 2003. Smile; be happy!
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:07 am to Glorious
How the Alabama's resume in 1966? I'll admit it sounds like an epic hosejob and I've heard stories about how it pertained to race relations more than football.
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:09 am to Ross
An older bammer could tell the story better. Hell my dad was only like 10 when it happened 
ETA: Bama played a meh schedule and did not have to play 10-1 Georgia. Auburn and LSU weren't great that year but Tennessee and Ole Miss were good
ETA: Bama played a meh schedule and did not have to play 10-1 Georgia. Auburn and LSU weren't great that year but Tennessee and Ole Miss were good
This post was edited on 6/23/17 at 11:15 am
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:10 am to Ross
83 Nebraska would have been in the best team ever discussion had they won against Miami. Also, having to play a national championship game on the other team's home field really sucks.
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:11 am to Ross
quote:
But no, #5 Miami jumps Auburn. Why?
Miami had a gauntlet of a season to finish including finally beating Mississippi State that year. That's why.
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:12 am to VADawg
maybe at the time, their resume and achievements don't stack up well at all to some teams that have come since them
I'll give them some respect though, had they simply tied Miami with the extra point they'd have won the national championship fair and square. But they lost.
Then you have four one loss teams and it should come down to who had the best resume over the course of an entire season. That team was Auburn.
I'll give them some respect though, had they simply tied Miami with the extra point they'd have won the national championship fair and square. But they lost.
Then you have four one loss teams and it should come down to who had the best resume over the course of an entire season. That team was Auburn.
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:12 am to Ross
Two things to keep in mind if anyone looks at 1966 Alabama:
1. They started off pre-season #1 and did not lose a game
2. The AP only ranked 1-10, so their win over an 8-2 Ole Miss and 8-3 Tennessee often don't show up as having beaten "ranked" teams,although the two were ranked in the UPI final poll.
1. They started off pre-season #1 and did not lose a game
2. The AP only ranked 1-10, so their win over an 8-2 Ole Miss and 8-3 Tennessee often don't show up as having beaten "ranked" teams,although the two were ranked in the UPI final poll.
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:13 am to I-59 Tiger
I wasn't alive for that, sounds like some straight politics had to come into play.
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:15 am to Glorious
quote:Michigan State and Notre Dame played to a 10-10 tie in the first "game of the century". They awarded them split national championships. Doesn't matter what anyone else did that year, that's just the way it was going to be. Made for a good story and giving the NC to an undefeated team (who knows if they were better) would have messed up the story.
An older bammer could tell the story better. Hell my dad was only like 10 when it happened
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:17 am to Ross
Even with Alabama not losing, had Notre Dame beaten Michigan State and then following it up with their 51-0 win AT Southern Cal in Los Angeles, it would have been more crystal clear. But the tie with Michigan State should have negated their #1 ranking as well as the Spartans'. (and Michigan State was EVERY BIT as guilty as messing around at the end playing for a tie.)
But Auburn does have one heck of a case.
But Auburn does have one heck of a case.
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:17 am to I-59 Tiger
I wish I had your CFB memory. Would be nice to recall games and not be forced to look at stat sheets.
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:22 am to Ross
actually one of Auburn's biggest hosings was not being selected for the 1975 NIT.
Posted on 6/23/17 at 11:43 am to Ross
Agreed.
Posted on 6/23/17 at 12:04 pm to Ross
quote:No they didn't.
In short, 1983 Auburn got hosed. Miami and Texas should have been fighting for the #2 spot behind them that season.
They played a mediocre game against a mediocre team when it mattered the most. On the big stage no less.
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