The USC Trojans won the 2004 national title, but due to the Reggie Bush scandal, had to vacate it in 2011 after the NCAA’s verdict. However, did they even deserve that national title in the first place? For starters, Auburn says no, and for some quite compelling reasons. For context, in that season, Auburn also went undefeated like USC, defeating teams like Georgia, Alabama, and LSU, which included their four top-10 opponents. However, due to a controversial BCS system, Auburn wasn’t even in the top 2. But now? The Auburn Tigers are reclaiming that and several other parts of their history.

Until today, the Jordan-Hare Stadium has displayed Auburn’s two national titles (1957 and 2010), with another three in 1913, 1983, and 1993 titles being noted subtly in the football media guide. However, this would mark the last day that Auburn will have 5 national titles, because, according to recent reports, the program has recognized  4 more national titles along with 3 additional conference titles. That takes the Auburn Tigers’ natty tally to 9 and conference titles to 15. Auburn’s AD, John Cohen, provided the program’s reasoning behind the move.

“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,” said Cohen. And guess what? Auburn isn’t even delaying showing off those 9 nattys. Justin Hokanson of On3 took to X to deliver the news: “MORE BIG NEWS: Auburn will now officially claim NINE football national titles.“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.””

According to Hokanson, the program will start to display the signage starting today! “Signage recognizing the national titles will start going up inside and around Jordan-Hare Stadium TODAY,” reported Hokanson on X. While Auburn doing the right thing by claiming those extra nattys and conference titles is another debate. But on the internet, this has created a hailstorm of itself.

Popular sentiment on X goes against the Auburn Tigers’ move

Apart from the 5 national titles that were already claimed by Auburn, the program has now recognized the 1910, 1914, 1958, and 2004 national titles. Apart from that, the conference titles Auburn has added are from 1904, 1908, and 1910 when Auburn was a member of the SIAA. This move, however, has led to sharp reactions, with people reacting in different ways on X.

One of the users commented on how Auburn, with just a stroke of a pen, has won more national championships than Nick Saban has won in 17 years at Alabama. “Auburn just won more national championships in one day than Nick Saban did in 17 years. They really showed us,” read the post. While another user wrote, “Not gone lie, this some of the most loser s–t I’ve ever heard in my life.” 

Apart from the 2004 national championship, where critics still argue that the Auburn Tigers should have been there. The program’s 1987 was also one of the best in the country as they finished 11-1 and defeated five ranked teams. However, what didn’t go towards Auburn’s natty case was their loss vs Texas, as the Longhorns themselves finished 11-1, resulting in Nebraska (12-1) and Texas ranking 1st and 2nd. This also creates an overlap with Alabama’s nattys.

One of the users commented, “The other side of the state better look in the mirror before commenting on this one. 😂😂😂.” While another sarcastically took a dig at Hugh Freeze’s underperformance (11-14) in the past two seasons. “You know, for Hugh Freeze to win seven national championships in one night is something we have never seen before. Auburn should immediately offer him a lifetime contract.” Notably, Alabama, too, has claimed some national titles in its history.

Alabama has claimed a total of a whopping 9 national titles, and some of those, such as the 1926 or 1930, or even 1941, weren’t recognized by a major selector. For instance, in the 1930 season, Alabama did go undefeated, but Notre Dame is largely touted to be the winner (10-0) due to its dominance under Knute Rockne. Then there is the 1941 national title, where Minnesota was the clear AP favorite as Alabama finished 9-2. The verdict?

Auburn’s reclaiming of its past glories isn’t a new thing, and teams have done that before, including Alabama, its fierce rival. Popular sentiment aside, the move will be forgotten in no time as the spotlight will quickly turn on Hugh Freeze, who is fighting for his job in the 2025 season and has a lot to prove after his past debacles.