Who's number 1? When all the January 1 bowl games are over, the Auburn Tigers will still be undefeated and could find themselves with a share of the national championship

Sporting News, The, Nov 29, 1993 by Tony Barnhart

"My wish is for people to remember us as a group that restored Auburn to where it was when he got here in 1989," Gandy says. "We didn't have that much success, but when it came down to the end, we did our best."

For Bowden, however, the dream is just beginning. Auburn still will not be eligible for the SEC title next season because of probation. But the mileage and goodwill this season created should enable the Tigers to hit the ground running when they are back in the SEC hunt in 1995. This much is certain: As Bowden took a victory lap around Jordan-hare Stadium after the victory against Alabama last Saturday, he looked like a man in it for the long hill.

More than a few experts had been convinced that the existing problems at Auburn and the rigors of the SEC would eat Bowden alive. Instead, the former Rhodes Scholar with a law degree from Florida State looks like a solid bet for national coach of the year, beating out a guy named Bobby Bowden, whom Terry still calls Daddy."

Bottom line: Fate, that inexplicable but all too real function of athletics, smiled on Auburn and Terry Bowden this season. Auburn wide receiver Thomas Bailey no doubt said it best:

"Coach Bowden was an angel sent from God. "