MARLER: Auburn just added four national titles. Why not?

By Chris Marler

Every day I think college football can’t get dumber. Every day it proves me wrong.

On Tuesday, Justin Hokanson of On3 reported that Auburn is retroactively claiming four national titles from 1910, 1914, 1958 and 2004. That will give them nine national titles in their program history now. 

If you’re mad about it, let me ask a serious question: why?

I’ll always argue that 2004 is one of the most overblown cases of revisionist history in this sport, especially when people complain about Auburn not getting a shot at the title. After all, USC and Oklahoma each started the year at No. 1 and No. 2 and neither lost a game. They also had a combined three Heisman trophy winners on those teams and Adrian Peterson. Not to mention that both played a strength of schedule ranked in the top 11 nationally, and Auburn’s was 55th. 

But, 1983. Give that one to Auburn. That team went 11-1 and beat five straight top 20 teams to close the year, including four in the top ten. Their only loss was to No. 3 Texas in week two. Hang the banner. 

The 1993 one? Sure. Who cares? Yes, they were on probation for cheating allegations that were so severe they weren’t allowed to be on television, but seriously who actually cares in the year 2025. 

Almost every national title before color television and integration is objectively hilarious in my mind. There’s a reason why teams like Michigan, Yale and Alabama were racking up national titles left and right before the Great Depression. They were playing local high schools and Ace Hardwares. Yale has approximately 19 national titles because they were playing kids from summer fat camps and Juilliard for God’s sake. 

The fake national titles are even funnier. Alabama takes the crown here, naturally. Still, a quick Google search shows that most of them actually made sense in their era, since titles were handed out before bowl games back then.

Alabama hanging a 1941 national championship banner is comedy. They went 9–2, finished No. 20, and didn’t win the SEC. The 1973 claim is somehow worse, they lost to Notre Dame head-to-head in the Sugar Bowl and ended the year ranked fourth.

Still, Auburn’s move is hilarious in its own right. Those old, inflated claims from Alabama were 50 and 80 years ago, not two weeks before the 2025 season kicks off.

I love it, though. 

It’s been a long time since there’s been some sort of even playing field across the landscape of college football. We don’t have it with scheduling. We don’t have it with rankings. One could argue that we don’t have it in a majority of the most important parts of the sport. 

So, who cares? Claim it. Make the flag. Hang the banner. 

Next time, maybe don’t wait until 12 days before kickoff. Optics matter, and this one looks bad.