The Auburn Tigers claiming an additional seven national championships this year has been a very unpopular one across the college football world.
AU's self-claimed 1958 title really rubbed Hawkeyes Wire's Scout Springgate the wrong way. Springgate believes it's being claimed on a completely false premise, citing no proof of there being a David Montgomery Full Season Championship poll.
Springgate also attacked John Cohen and the rest of the program's brain trust for their supposed "desperate grab at relevancy."
"Auburn stipulates it is deserving of a share of the title based on that season's David Montgomery Full Season Championship poll, which named the Tigers' 9–0–1 (6–0–1 SEC) record as its national champion. While Auburn's claim may appear reasonable, there is no documented evidence that such a poll ever existed, making it more of a desperate grab at relevancy," Springgate wrote.
One Auburn media member isn't concerned about that. Instead, Auburnundercover's Phillip Marshall believes it was a positive because it made the members of those championship teams happy.
"Kudos to Auburn athletics John Cohen. For years, Auburn administrations, even with the best of intentions, have been more about talk than action. Cohen doesn't just talk. In the past week, he has presided over retiring Cam Newton's jersey number, the, the recognition of seven more Auburn national champions and has secured a multi-million dollar advertising deal for Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium," Marshall wrote.
"If you haven't noticed, players from the Auburn teams recognized as national champions are beyond delighted that Cohen decided to recognize them. That alone makes Cohen's move worthwhile."
Auburn can make claimed titles look good, or become a punchline
Unfortunately, the Tigers can look foolish for claiming extra titles right before the season if recruiting falls off and conference games continue to be lost in droves. It was undoubtedly a gamble for the brain trust.
Retiring Cam Newton's number was more of a no-brainer. The YellaWood sponsorship that honors Pat Dye was, too.
But it's a massive stretch to say claiming titles that many will scoff at will be a definitive positive like the other developments.