One topic of discussion among Florida fans in recent years has been whether the Gators should claim the 1984 national title. Florida went 9-1-1 and did win the SEC title, but was retroactively stripped of the crown. The Gators finished No. 3 in the AP Poll that season, but were ranked No. 1 by The New York Times computer rankings and by the Sporting News.
Florida has been hesitant to claim those titles and has chosen to recognize only the three times they finished as the AP No. 1 (1996, 2006, and 2008).
Auburn fans this week have been tossing around that they have nine national titles, but upon further inspection, they come across as a school as desperate as UCF to claim titles they didn’t actually win.
Florida fans laugh as Auburn claims national titles they didn’t win
1910 - Auburn went 6-1 this year, with a 9-0 loss to Texas. Even though Harvard and Pittsburgh are considered the real national champions from that season, Auburn has claimed the title because they were No. 1 in the Billingsley Report, which was created in the 1960s. The comical part is that this formula wound up getting used in the BCS, and after the formula was revised, Michigan and Harvard were the two teams that wound up No. 1 that year, not Auburn.
1913 - To their credit, this team at least went undefeated and was 8-0. Once again, though, Harvard and Chicago were the national champions at the time. The irony of Auburn claiming this one is that the same Billingsley Report formula they used to claim the 1910 title didn’t have Auburn as the champ, and it wasn’t until the revised formula came out that Auburn was deemed No. 1 for 1913.
1914 - Auburn went 8-0-1 this year, with an astonishing 0-0 tie against Georgia. Army, Illinois, and Texas are considered the champions from this year, and the Billingsley Report doesn’t acknowledge Auburn. This time around, they had to resort to a formula from James Howell, which is the only formula out of 23 that had Auburn at No. 1.
1957 - This one is real, and we will allow it. Auburn went 10-0 under head coach Ralph Jordan and was No. 1 in the AP Poll.
1958 - Auburn went 9-0-1, featuring a 7-7 tie against Georgia Tech, and finished No. 4 in the AP Poll. That magical Billingsley Report has LSU at No. 1 for 1958 and so Auburn turned to the Montgomery Full Season Championship rankings to claim this title. Never mind that Auburn was on literal probation that season.
1983 - Auburn went 11-1 with a lone loss to Texas. The Tigers were No. 3 in the AP Poll, and Miami leapfrogged them after they beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. The Tigers have a better claim at this one, as multiple publications did vote them No. 1.
1993 - Again, a very good season for Auburn as they went 11-0. There was just one small problem: Auburn was once again on probation following a scandal that forced Pat Dye to step down. Auburn finished as the AP No. 4 this year.
2004 - Another case where Auburn had a very good season and went 13-0. But even in the BCS era, they were caught in a logjam with USC and Oklahoma. Ultimately, the Trojans crushed the Sooners in the BCS title game, while Auburn squeaked by then No. 9 Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. Rather than just admit they had a good year but would have also been crushed by USC, Auburn pulled a UCF and claimed this title.
2010 - This is Auburn’s only other legitimate title, as Cam Newton led the Tigers to a 14-0 season, capped off by a win over Oregon.
Add us as a preferred source on Google