Auburn University’s football program has decided to claim seven additional college football national championships, bringing its total from two to nine. The announcement was made by Auburn athletic director John Cohen.
“For too long, Auburn has chosen a humble approach to our program’s storied history—choosing to only recognize Associated Press National Championships,” Cohen said. “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.”
The newly claimed championships are from the 1910, 1913 and 1914 seasons in the pre-major college football poll era as well as the 1958, 1983, 1993 and 2004 seasons. Until now, Auburn had only recognized titles from the 1957 and 2010 seasons.
College football national titles have historically been awarded by polls or other selectors rather than through an official NCAA championship system. This sometimes led to split national champions within a single season, such as in 1997 when both Michigan and Nebraska finished undefeated but were each recognized by different polls.
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) model was developed in an attempt to resolve these disputes but also had shortcomings. In 2004, five teams ended the regular season unbeaten: Auburn, USC and Oklahoma were considered for top positions in the BCS rankings for a place in the Orange Bowl. USC and Oklahoma played for that title while Auburn faced Virginia Tech in another bowl game despite its perfect record. USC later vacated its final two wins from that season due to NCAA violations involving Reggie Bush, resulting in no formally recognized champion for that year. Auburn is now claiming a title for its undefeated season.
It is not unusual for programs to claim more national championships than those formally recognized by the NCAA; Alabama claims eighteen titles while the NCAA officially recognizes fewer.
Cohen’s statement comes ahead of celebrations marking fifteen years since Auburn’s last undefeated season in 2010 when it won against Oregon in what was then known as the BCS Championship Game. As part of those festivities, Cam Newton’s No. 2 jersey will be retired prior to an Oct. 11 game against Georgia; Newton won the Heisman Trophy that year after throwing for over twenty-five hundred yards and rushing for nearly fifteen hundred with fifty touchdowns.
With these changes, Auburn now claims nine national titles—tied with USC and Ohio State for sixth most all-time among college football programs.
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