Auburn football now claims 9 national championships
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The national spotlight has been on the Auburn football program this week as the Tigers have garnered mixed reactions with a recent announcement.
Auburn is officially upping their national title claims to nine, officially half the number of national championships in-state rival Alabama claims. The Tigers have two AP championships—1957 and 2010—and the program has previously recognized the 1913, 1983 and 1993 teams as national champions.
This week, Auburn said it is adding four more to its list including:
- 1910: 6-1 record
- 1914: 8-0-1 record
- 1958: 9-0-1 record; 4th in AP
- 2004: 13-0; 2nd in AP
“For too long, Auburn has chosen a humble approach to our program’s storied history — choosing to recognize only Associated Press national championships. Starting this fall, we have made the decision to honor the accomplishments of our deserving student-athletes, coaches and teams from Auburn’s proud history. Our visible national championship recognitions now align with the well-established standard used by the NCAA’s official record book and our peers across the nation.”
John Cohen, Auburn Athletics Director
Claiming national championships
Schools claiming national championships from obscure polls or really just based on vibes isn’t exactly a new tactic—once again, look at Alabama, and even more specifically the 1941 season.
Auburn is just a little late to the party.
Claims before the AP national champion was introduced in 1936 are hard to argue against. And even before the BCS system in the 1990s, several different ranking systems were public and schools would refer to them as reasons to claim a title.
Auburn’s 2004 season was remarkable, going 13-0 and winning the SEC Championship. The Tigers were left out of the national championship game, finishing 3rd in the BCS rankings behind eventual champion USC and Oklahoma.
That claim is eerily similar to Central Florida’s national title claim from 2017—just without a championship parade.
Still, seven of Auburn’s nine title claims came from undefeated seasons with the other two coming from one-loss seasons.
Who has the most national championships?
That depends on who you ask.
Auburn now says it has nine titles, which would rank the Tigers tied for seventh all-time. The list of other schools claiming at least nine championships includes:
- Princeton: 28
- Yale: 27
- Alabama: 18
- Michigan: 12
- Notre Dame: 11
- USC: 11
- Auburn: 9
- Ohio State: 9
- Pittsburgh: 9
However, the NCAA still recognizes just two national championships for Auburn. Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide is recognized for 16 of its 18 claims.
The school with the most according to the NCAA: Yale with 18.
If you ask the Associated Press, Alabama has the most, finishing first in the rankings 12 times since its inception in 1936. That’s four more than any other school.
What do you think about Auburn’s new national championship claims? Let us know by tagging The Bama Buzz on Instagram, X, Facebook + LinkedIn.
