It seems the newest trend in college football is claiming national championship titles outside of the Associated Press or NCAA record books. The debate was ignited in 2017 when Central Florida went undefeated but failed to be chosen for the four-team College Football Playoff, ultimately choosing to claim the national championship bestowed upon them by the Colley Matrix.
Now, a much higher profile program is choosing to claim multiple titles it previously ignored. The Auburn Tigers announced Tuesday they would claim four previously shunned national titles for its football program (1910, 1914, 1958, 2004).
"For too long, Auburn has chosen a humble approach to our program’s storied history – choosing to recognize only Associated Press National Championships. Starting this fall, we have made the decision to honor the accomplishments of our deserving student-athletes, coaches, and teams from Auburn’s proud history,” athletic director John Cohen said in a statement. “Our visible National Championship recognitions now align with the well-established standard used by the NCAA’s official record book and our peers across the nation.”
Auburn now claims nine football national championships and 15 conference championships as a result of this sweeping recognition.
Arizona State should now claim 1970 and 1975 national championships
The precedent Auburn just set should be embraced by programs that have decided not to claim national titles bestowed outside of the Associated Press or coaches polls. Arizona State is one such program that now has the best excuse to do just that.
The Sun Devils went undefeated in 1970 (11-0) and 1975 (12-0), winning the Western Athletic Conference and the Fiesta Bowl both years. The Poling System crowned the team national champions in 1970 and the Sporting News did so in 1975. Both titles would be accepted and recognized by the NCAA if claimed.
The only reason ASU did not earn consensus national titles those seasons was because of the conference it played in. The WAC was not considered a power conference at the time nor were its members respected as high quality opponents. ASU's undefeated record was called soft.
Even still, the team was named national champions by respectable publications, even the NCAA thinks so. But the school has not made it a priority to claim those titles, even if to boost its resume after the fact. UCF's meme-able precedent may have ruined it for most schools.
The best opportunity for ASU to recognize these teams and their accomplishments would be this upcoming season as it's been over 50 years since that 1975 Fiesta Bowl victory. The team's 2025 Peach Bowl appearance and historic season last year would've gone hand in hand with re-launching the program in its new era.
Alas, there's still time. There just may need to be a powerful fan and student movement behind such an effort to get the school to take notice and act.