Auburn Claims Seven Retroactive Football National Championships

Auburn University recently announced it is retroactively claiming seven additional college football national championships, raising its total from two to nine. This includes controversial claims to titles from 1910, 1913, 1914, 1958, 1983, 1993, and 2004, which Auburn athletic director John Cohen says align with NCAA-recognized standards and honor accomplishments previously unacknowledged by the school. Notably, Auburn's 1958 national championship claim directly challenges LSU's long-held recognition as the consensus 1958 national champion, despite LSU finishing undefeated and ranked No. 1 in both the AP and Coaches Poll, while Auburn was fourth. Auburn also claims the 2004 title, a season when USC won the BCS national championship but later vacated that title due to NCAA sanctions; Auburn finished undefeated but ranked behind USC and Oklahoma. LSU supporters and sports analysts dispute Auburn's 1958 claim, citing superior records and ratings for LSU, including a Sugar Bowl victory considered the de facto national championship game that year. Auburn's expanded claims are seen by some as a strategic move similar to rival Alabama's historical championship claims, provoking debate among college football fans and historians about the legitimacy of retroactive titles.