Champions and challenges

Looking back at The Oregonian's sports pages from the first week of January 2005, we see that Maurice Cheeks' job as coach of the Trail Blazers was safe and Oregon State's football program was on the upswing. Oregon's was nowhere to be found.
The USC Trojans were the best college football team in the country.
On New Year's Day, Oregon's men's basketball team awoke to a 9-1 record; the Beavers were 9-3. Steroids had not yet risen to the level of congressional involvement. Vijay Singh was the No. 1 golfer in the world. Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren was given a vote of confidence.
The University of Portland's Christine Sinclair won the Hermann Trophy, awarded to the best women's college soccer player in the country.
What happened next?
These were the champions
(You knew them well)
USC began the year winning its 11th national championship, comically dismantling Oklahoma in the process. Then Michelle Kwan won her ninth U.S. Figure Skating Championship, at the Rose Garden in January.
The New England Patriots won their third Super Bowl in four years. And, sure, the national championship North Carolina won in basketball was coach Roy Williams' first, but it was the school's fifth, in its 16th Final Four appearance.