The 2004 Auburn Tigers football team represented

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

in the

2004 NCAA Division I-A football season The 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 28, 2004 and ended on Decem ...

. Auburn compiled a record of 13–0, winning the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

championship and finishing the season ranked #2 in both the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

and the Coaches' Poll. Beginning the season ranked #17 in the AP poll and #18 in the Coaches' Poll, the Tigers were denied a berth in the

BCS National Championship Game The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college fo ...

because they finished the regular season ranked #3 in the BCS rankings. Head coach

Tommy Tuberville Thomas Hawley Tuberville ( ; born September 18, 1954) is an American retired college football coach and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Alabama since 2021. Before entering politics, Tuberville was the head football co ...

, who was nearly fired after the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, was named national Coach of the Year by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

. This was Auburn's third undefeated season in which they played over ten games. The team defeated

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

(twice, facing them a second time in the SEC Championship game), all of whom were ranked opponents. They were left out of the BCS National Championship Game, and instead went to the 2005 Sugar Bowl, beating #9

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

, 16–13, to finish 13–0.

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

played for the national title in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

. USC's national title was later vacated by the NCAA. Both Darryl W. Perry and GBE College Football Ratings awarded their national titles to Auburn. The team's roster featured four first-round NFL draft picks in running back

Carnell Williams Carnell Lamar "Cadillac" Williams (born April 21, 1982) is an American football coach and former running back in the National Football League. Williams was the interim head coach of the Auburn Tigers, the first African American to hold the posit ...

, running back

Ronnie Brown Ronnie G. Brown Jr. (born December 12, 1981) is a former American football running back. After graduating from Cartersville High School in Georgia, Brown attended Auburn University to play college football for the Auburn Tigers. He and Cadill ...

, defensive back Carlos Rogers, and quarterback

Jason Campbell Jason S. Campbell (born December 31, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college footbal ...

, as well as five future

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

participants in offensive linemen

Marcus McNeill Marcus McNeill (born November 16, 1983) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons. He played college football for Auburn University, and wa ...

and

Ben Grubbs Benjamin Richard Grubbs (born March 10, 1984) is a former American football guard. He played college football at Auburn University, and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He has also played for the ...

, running back Ronnie Brown, Carlos Rogers, and defensive tackle Jay Ratliff. Permanent team captains were Campbell, Williams, Brown, Rogers, and Bret Eddins.

Schedule

Statistics

Offense

Passing

Roster

*- Redshirt

Captains

References

{{Southeastern Conference football champions

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Auburn Tigers football seasons Southeastern Conference football champion seasons Sugar Bowl champion seasons College football undefeated seasons

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division o ...