SEC April Fools: The biggest jokes in CFB and SEC history

By Chris Marler

It’s April Fools. Time to keep your head on a swivel and avoid social media. Actually, maybe doom scrolling through Twitter and Facebook and pretending the horrible hellscape that exists on those platforms is actually just fake. That might be the healthiest way to deal with everything happening nowadays.

All jokes aside, the day does bring about a valid question. What are the biggest jokes in SEC and college football history? Here are a few.

Alabama’s 1941 National Championship

Alabama has a lot of questionable at-best national titles according to rival fans. Most of them stem from this atrocity and commitment to delusion from 1941 though. Some of those flags that fly around Bryant-Denny Stadium commemorating the years of national titles may be questionable. That’s in large part to the fact that they were awarded national titles before postseason bowl games back in the day. But 1941? That’s just gross. The Tide finished with two losses, Mississippi State won the SEC, and Alabama ranked No. 20 in the AP Poll. Horrible.

1941 Alabama

• Record: 9-2
• Final AP Poll: #20
• They were shut out 14-0 by Miss State and 7-0 by Vanderbilt.

This is a legitimate season in which Alabama claims one of their “18” National Championships. 😭 pic.twitter.com/t32gYPSgr2

— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) August 19, 2025

Darren McFadden not winning the Heisman

The cliche argument in this type of conversation for SEC Heisman snubs is Peyton Manning. Darren McFadden was more deserving though. That’s because he was snubbed twice according to some. I’m fine with him not winning in 2007 since we had never seen a 50 touchdown season like the one Tim Tebow put up. The ceremony in 2006 though? That was a joke.

McFadden lost in a landslide to the starting quarterback of the No. 1 ranked team. That’s precisely when the “best player on the highest ranked team” Heisman narrative began. Smith had a stranglehold on the Heisman in September when the Buckeyes won three games on national television against Top 25 teams. He didn’t have a single 300 yard passing game until the Michigan game, and didn’t play another ranked opponent in October or November until that game either.

Meanwhile, McFadden was stuck running for over 200 ypg every week on Jefferson Pilot and ESPN Gameplan Pay-Per View. It was an all-time screw job in Manhattan that year.

Arkansas RB Darren McFadden (321 yards, 1 TD, one passing TD) and Felix Jones (166 yards, 3 TD) combined for 487 yards rushing and 4 TD in the Razorbacks’ 48-36 win over South Carolina in 2007 #RBRespectMonth pic.twitter.com/z5JAJd3tpg

— 2StripesCPD (@2StripesCPD) March 28, 2026

FSU not getting in the 2023 College Football Playoff

The Seminoles went 13-0 as a Power Four team in 2023. Losing their star quarterback didn’t prevent them from winning games, including a win over a ranked Louisville team in the ACC Championship game. It did, however, keep them out of the College Football Playoff. There was an argument to be made for keeping them out. It was a really bad argument though. Even worse, it did irreparable damage to the trust college football fans had in the CFP Committee and ESPN as a whole.

FSU is understandably heartbroken after being left out of the CFB playoffs.

I feel awful for them, undefeated season and you get left out because of an unfortunate freak injury.
pic.twitter.com/m3AF00kHrc

— JPA (@jasrifootball) December 3, 2023

Texas A&M making commemorative cups for a regular season win

The worst part of this event is that it really didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. In 2018, unranked Texas A&M beat No. 8 LSU in seven overtimes. The game should’ve been over multiple times, but thanks to a referee crew that was apparently hitting that Buffalo Wild Wings “I don’t want this game to end” button, it kept going. The Aggies got a lot of key calls, and Ed Orgeron had to coach five of the overtime periods sticky and cold thanks to a premature Gatorade bath in the second overtime. That, by the way, was the biggest travesty of the night.

The only thing that topped that travesty was Texas A&M making commemorative cups about the win the following year. Making souvenir cups for a regular season win to improve your team to 8-4 is an all-time Aggie move.

#7 LSU Tigers vs. #22 Texas A&M Aggies (2018):

7 OTs
1,017 TOT YDS
64 1ST DWNS
16 TOT TDs
74-72 Final Score
pic.twitter.com/wlk2fFUjEs https://t.co/cU9FtWMQFh

— College Football Classics (@ClassicsCFB) January 20, 2026

Western Division Champs signs

To my knowledge there are only two teams that have confidently, and sadly, done this – Ole Miss and Auburn. The 2003 Ole Miss team ended up being Co-Western Division Champs with LSU, and the 2017 Auburn Tigers were the outright West Division Champs. The problem here is that both Ole Miss and Auburn saw their rivals go on to win the national championship that season, and still took the time, effort, and money to make the division champs signs. Neither team is ever beating the little brother allegations because of it either.