NEWPORT BEACH -- Team Destiny vs. Team Domination.



"I still think our best game is out there," Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said Sunday. "I'm looking forward to playing it on Monday night, and our kids are looking forward to the challenge."

The turnaround Tigers (12-1) are the most unlikely group ever to reach the BCS championship game. Auburn went from 3-9 to Southeastern Conference champion in its first season under coach Gus Malzahn. It was a wild ride. The Prayer at Jordan-Hare beat Georgia. The Kick-Six beat Alabama. Destiny? Fate? Luck? The Tigers don't see it that way.

"Hey, I know we're a team of hard work, I know that," said tailback Tre Mason, a Heisman finalist who has run for 1,621 yards and 22 touchdowns for the No. 1 rushing offense in the country. "These guys put a lot of hard work in with me every day, blood, sweat and tears all year long."

Auburn is the first team to reach the BCS championship game after having a losing season the previous season and would become the first national champion to start the season unranked since BYU in 1984.

Malzahn, who was Auburn's offensive coordinator when it won the 2010 national title, said he told his players before the season that one of their goals was to make the biggest turnaround in college football. Done. Auburn has matched the 2000 Hawaii team for most improved record in FBS history.

"Well, Auburn is a great program and used to winning championships, so I knew that we were going to get it turned around," he said. "I didn't know how quick. There was a lot of questions when we first got there. We did a lot of Dr. Phil-ing early, and our guys came together and they believed."


"Well, you have to have eye discipline," Fisher said. "Any time you have moving parts, any time you bring something in front of you, just like when you're driving, if somebody flashes a hand in front of you while you're driving down the road it makes you blink, it makes your eyes distracted and you get off of what you're looking at and then at the same time they become very physical with how they play, and you get yourself out of position, they knock you out of the way, and there's a four, five, eight, 10 or they break a run right up the middle."

Fisher has put together the most talented two-deep depth chart in the country, a collection of five-star recruits and NFL prospects reminiscent of coach Bobby Bowden's best Florida State teams. The Seminoles won two national titles under Fisher's Hall of Fame predecessor and played in the first three BCS title games. The Seminoles haven't been back since 2000.

A prodigy led them.

Winston turns 20 Monday. The redshirt freshman became the youngest player to win the Heisman Trophy, setting FBS freshman records for most yards passing (3,820) and touchdown passes (38).

The Seminoles outscored their opponents by 42 points per game and have not trailed since Sept. 28. The Atlantic Coast Conference was no match for the Seminoles. Will the lack of stiff, four-quarter tests and not the most difficult of schedules put Florida State at a disadvantage?

The 'Noles say nonsense.

"I can't help that another team can't keep up with us," linebacker Telvin Smith said.

Monday's game

Auburn (12-1) vs. Florida State (13-0), 5:30 p.m. ESPN