A massive part of college football fandom — especially in this part of the country — is nostalgia and remembering special moments from your program that fans live and die for.
Even if it has been a tough time for your team in recent years, it’s the good times and the yearning for them that keep fans going.
Such is the case with the Auburn Tigers after some extremely lean seasons since getting rid of former Head Coach Gus Malzahn. It’s been tough sledding for the Tigers, but they still have some of the most memorable seasons in recent college football history.
Sports Illustrated‘s Pat Forde wrote a list of the top-25 college football teams in the last 25 years, and two Auburn teams cracked the list.
Coming in at No. 20 was the undefeated 2004 Auburn Tigers, led by head coach Tommy Tuberville. Even though the Tigers were undefeated, it was before the College Football Playoff era, and they were denied a chance to play in the national title game in favor of the USC Trojans and Oklahoma Sooners.
The matchup saw USC throttle Oklahoma and bring even more noise to the narrative that Auburn should have been given a chance.
“The best team of the 21st century that never got a chance to play for a national title,” Forde wrote. “The Tigers were iced out of the BCS championship game by USC and Oklahoma, marking the last time an undefeated SEC champion would have no access to the title. Tommy Tuberville’s best team was led by the running back tandem of Carnell “Cadillac” Williams and Ronnie Brown, both first-round NFL draft picks, who combined for more than 2,000 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns. Dispatched to the Sugar Bowl against Virginia Tech, Auburn completed a 13–0 season and then watched Oklahoma completely flop in the title game.”
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Coming in right behind the 2004 squad was Cam Newton’s 2010 National Championship team with an undefeated 14-0 season in which Newton won the Heisman trophy.
The star quarterback’s season is considered to be arguably the greatest individual effort in the history of the sport, and there were some absolutely iconic moments, including a down 24-0 comeback at Bryant-Denny Stadium to defeat Alabama. The triumph is still the most recent time the Tigers have beaten Alabama on the road.
“It’s unfair to defensive tackle Nick Fairley, running back Michael Dyer, and several other Tigers to say this was a one-man team—but this undefeated season and national title was absolutely a Cam Newton production,” Forde wrote. “Newton played just one season in an Auburn uniform, but those 14 games were a tour de force—50 touchdowns and more than 4,300 yards total offense leading an undefeated team.”
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
