There is no doubt that the USC Trojans were the National Champions this year. They dispelled any thoughts of sharing the National Championship with the Auburn Tigers with their 55-19 blowout they hung on the Oklahoma Sooners back on Jan. 4.

Auburn tried hard to plead their case in the post game interviews after the Sugar Bowl in which they defeated the Hokies of Virginia Tech 16-13.

I thought Coach Tommy Tubberville went out a limb when he stated after the Sugar Bowl that he would play USC or Oklahoma any day and would beat them.

He basically said that he thought Auburn should at least get a share of the National Championship, but he didn’t.

The ESPN commentators on the pre-game show before the Sugar Bowl said Auburn was going to have to beat Virginia Tech by a wide margin to be co-National Championship.

I definitely agreed with them because Auburn played a soft schedule to start out the season and without a doubt played a factor in determining their schedule strength.

The weak opponents Auburn played earlier in the season included Louisiana-Monroe, the Citadel, and Louisiana Tech. The strength of schedule component is a tool that the Bowl Championship Series voters look at with a lot of consideration when they determine the BCS standings and I think Auburn’s non-conference schedule was very weak. These three opponents only scored a combined 10 points against the Auburn Tigers.

LSU was able to share the college football National Championship with Southern California last year but Auburn was unable to do so. With Nick Saban leaving as head coach of the LSU Tigers football team for the head coaching position of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins this is sure to set off the college football-coaching carousel this off-season. I thought USC’s Coach Pete Carroll did a good job when he made it be known that he has no interest in the coaching vacancy that recently opened with the San Francisco 49ers. Pete Carroll used to work for the 49ers as their defensive coordinator.

We all know how tough it is for college coaches to have success in the professional ranks, but for all I know Pete Carroll could announce tomorrow that he’s going to be the next head coach of the 49ers. Carroll is one of those coaches who has enjoyed a lot of success in the college coaching ranks but hasn’t had much success in the NFL.

Quarterback Matt Leinart, had a huge Orange Bowl game with his record five touchdown passes and bolstered his NFL draft status if he chooses to declare for the NFL draft this April.

Even if it was just for this season, USC quieted the critics of the BCS with their National Championship.