The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
Auburn officially began competing in intercollegiate football in 1892. The Tigers joined the SEC in 1932 as one of the inaugural members of the conference. They began competing in the West Division when the conference divided in 1992, doing so until the SEC eliminated divisions in 2024. Auburn has achieved 12 undefeated seasons and won 16 conference championships, along with 10 divisional championships. The Tigers have made 44 post season bowl appearances, including 12 historically major bowl berths. With over 800 total wins, Auburn is the 13th winningest FBS program. The Tigers claim nine national championships; including two (1957, 2010) from the major wire-services: AP Poll and/or Coaches' Poll.
The Tigers have produced three Heisman Trophy winners: quarterback Pat Sullivan in 1971, running back Bo Jackson in 1985, and quarterback Cam Newton in 2010. Auburn has also produced 31 consensus All-American players. The College Football Hall of Fame has inducted a total of 12 individuals from Auburn, including eight student-athletes and four head coaches: John Heisman, Mike Donahue, Ralph Jordan, and Pat Dye. Jordan, who coached from 1951 to 1975, led Auburn to its first AP national championship and won a total of 176 games, the most by any Auburn coach.
Auburn's home stadium is Jordan–Hare Stadium, which opened in 1939 and becomes Alabama's fifth largest city on gamedays with a capacity of 88,043. Auburn's arch rival is in-state foe Alabama. The Tigers and Crimson Tide meet annually in the Iron Bowl, one of the biggest rivalries in all of sports.
History
Auburn claims nine national championships: 1910, 1913, 1914, 1957, 1958, 1983, 1993, 2004 and 2010. Three Auburn players, Pat Sullivan in 1971, Bo Jackson in 1985, and Cam Newton in 2010 have won the Heisman Trophy. The Trophy's namesake, John Heisman, coached at Auburn from 1895 until 1899. Auburn is the only school that Heisman coached at (among others, Georgia Tech and Clemson) that has produced a Heisman Trophy winner. Auburn's Jordan–Hare Stadium has a capacity of 88,043 ranking as the tenth-largest on-campus stadium in the NCAA as of January 2011.List of American football stadiums by capacity Auburn played the first football game in the Deep South in 1892 against the University of Georgia at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia. The Tigers' first bowl appearance was in 1937 in the sixth Bacardi Bowl played in Havana, Cuba. AU Football has won 12 conference championships (8 SEC), has had seven perfect seasons, and during the division of the conference, six outright Western Division championships (1997, 2000, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2017) along with three additional co-championships. Auburn plays archrival Alabama each year in a game known as the Iron Bowl. In the overall series with Alabama, Auburn trails Alabama 42–35–1, despite holding an 18–14 advantage in games played since 1982. Of the 14 SEC member universities, Auburn currently ranks 5th in the number of SEC football championships.
Auburn completed the 2004 football season with an unblemished 13–0 record winning the SEC championship, their first conference title since 1989 and their first outright title since 1987. However, this achievement was somewhat overshadowed by the Tigers being left out of the BCS championship game in deference to two other undefeated, higher ranked teams, USC and Oklahoma. The 2004 team was led by quarterback Jason Campbell (Washington Commanders), running backs Carnell Williams (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Ronnie Brown (Miami Dolphins), and cornerback Carlos Rogers (Washington Commanders).
Auburn completed the 2010 football season with a perfect record of 13–0 winning the SEC championship when they defeated the University of South Carolina 56–17, which set an SEC Championship Game record for most points scored and largest margin of victory. The Tigers went on to defeat the Oregon Ducks 22–19 in their first appearance in the BCS National Championship Game on January 10, 2011, in Glendale, Arizona. The 2010 team was led by quarterback Cam Newton, who became the Heisman trophy winner of 2010 along with multiple other awards.
Auburn completed the 2013 regular season with an 11–1 record by knocking off then-#1 Alabama. Auburn went on to defeat #5 Missouri 59–42 in the 2013 SEC Championship Game to claim its eighth SEC championship. Auburn faced #1 Florida State in the 2014 BCS National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl, falling to the Seminoles in the final seconds, 31–34. The Tigers finished the season with a 12–2 record and ranked #2 in the final AP and Coaches polls.
Program success In terms of winning percentage, Auburn ranks as the 22nd most successful team of all time through week 0 of the 2025 season with a 62.3% win rate.
The College Football Research Center lists Auburn as the 14th best college football program in history, with eight Auburn squads listed in Billingsley's Top 200 Teams of All Time (1869–2010). The Bleacher Report placed Auburn as the 18th best program of all time in their power rankings conducted after the 2010 season. In 2013, College Football Data Warehouse, a website dedicated to the historical data of college football, listed Auburn 13th all-time. After the 2008 season, ESPN ranked Auburn the 21st most prestigious program in history. Additional noteworthy outlets to rank Auburn in the top 25 all time were College Football News, who put the Tigers at 13th all time after the 2018 season, and the Associated Press, who ranked Auburn 15th all time after the 2017 season.
The Associated Press poll statistics show Auburn with the 11th best national record of being ranked in the final AP Poll and 14th overall (ranked 503 times out of 1,058 polls since the poll began in 1936), with an average ranking of 11.2. Since the Coaches Poll first released a final poll in 1950, Auburn has 26 seasons where the team finished ranked in the top 20 in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
Auburn has also had success against teams ranked number one in the nation. The Tigers have beaten seven teams ranked number one in either the AP, Coaches, Bowl Championship Series (BCS), or College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings. The BCS was created in 1998 to guarantee bowl game matchups between the top teams, including a national championship game between the two top-ranked teams. The BCS was discontinued in 2014 and replaced by the CFP, which organizes a four-team playoff and national championship game.
Conference affiliations
Auburn has been both independent and affiliated with three conferences. Independent (1892–1894) Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1895–1921) Southern Conference (1922–1932) Southeastern Conference (1932–present)
Championships National championships The major wire-services, AP Poll and/or Coaches' Poll, have awarded Auburn with two national championships—1957 and 2010.
In 2025, Auburn claimed seven additional national titles, including selections made by several NCAA-designated major selectors for 1910, 1913, 1983 and 1993, as well for the undefeated seasons of 1914, 1958 and 2004.
1957 Ralph Jordan Associated Press, Billingsley, Football Research, Helms, National Championship Foundation, Poling, Sagarin, Sagarin (ELO-Chess), Williamson 10–0 No. 1 No. 2 2010 Gene Chizik Anderson & Hester, AP, Bowl Championship Series, Berryman, Billingsley, College Football Researchers Association, Colley, Dunkel, Football Writers Association, FWAA-NFF Grantland Rice Super 16, Massey, National Football Foundation, Sagarin, USA Today, Wolfe 14–0 No. 1 No. 1
1910 season
1913 season
The 1913 team was coached by Mike Donahue and was undefeated at 8–0, outscoring opponents 224–13. Auburn, led by senior captain Kirk Newell, finished as SIAA champions for the first time in school history. Newell, also a member of the Upsilon chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha, went on to be a World War I hero and member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. In 1999, the 1913 Tigers were selected by Richard Billingsley as national champion under his revised math system (in addition to his previous selection of the University of Chicago).
1957 season
The 1957 Auburn Tigers, led by coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan, finished with a perfect 10–0 record, marking the school's first ever SEC championship. Auburn was recognized as national champions by the AP Poll even though they were on probation and did not participate in a bowl game. This was the school's first recognized national championship. The 1957 title is shared with Ohio State, who was named the national champion by the Coaches' Poll. This was the first of only two times in the history of the AP championship that it was awarded to a team on probation not allowed to participate in a bowl game (it would occur again in 1974 with Oklahoma).
1983 season
The 1983 Auburn Tigers, led by head coach Pat Dye and running back Bo Jackson, finished 11–1 after playing the nation's toughest schedule. Their only loss came against No.3 Texas, who defeated the Tigers, 20–7. Auburn went on to defeat No.8 Michigan, 9–7, in the Sugar Bowl. Despite entering the bowl games ranked third in both major polls, and with both teams ranked higher losing their bowl games, the Tigers ended ranked third in the final AP poll. The New York Times ranked Auburn number one at the conclusion of the season, as did several other math system selectors. Later, the Billingsley Report math system retroactively listed Auburn at number one. The predominantly recognized national champions for 1983 are the Miami Hurricanes.
1993 season
Head coach Terry Bowden led the 1993 team to a perfect season in his first year on the Plains. The Tigers were the only undefeated team in major college football; however, they were banned from playing on television or post-season games due to NCAA violations. Rival Alabama was sent to the SEC Championship Game as the substitute representative of the Western Division. Auburn finished ranked fourth in the nation by the Associated Press. However, Auburn was on NCAA probation in 1993 and ineligible for post season play.
2010 season
The Tigers, led by head coach Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn, completed a 12–0 regular season record and defeated South Carolina in the 2010 SEC Championship Game. On October 24, 2010, Auburn was ranked first in the BCS polls for the first time in school history. On January 10, 2011, Auburn defeated Oregon in the BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona, 22–19. It was the school's second claimed national title, but their first undisputed title. Their quarterback, Cam Newton, became the Tigers' third Heisman Trophy winner. He had a total of 2,854 yards passing and 30 passing touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,473 yards and 20 touchdowns. Auburn went on to have two first round picks in the 2011 NFL draft with Cam Newton going number one and Nick Fairley going 13th.
Conference championships Auburn officially has won 16 total conference championships, including seven SIAA Championships, one Southern Conference Championship, and eight SEC Championships.
1900† SIAA Walter H. Watkins 4-0 4-0 1904† Mike Donahue 5–0 4-0 1908† 6-1 4-1 1910† 6-1 6-0 1913 9–0 8–0 1914† 8–0–1 5–0–1 1919† 8–1 5–1 1932† SoCon Chet A. Wynne 9–0–1 6–0–1 1957 SEC Ralph Jordan 10–0 7–0 1983 Pat Dye 11–1 6–0 1987 9–1–2 6–0–1 1988† 10–2 6–1 1989† 10–2 6–1 2004 Tommy Tuberville 13–0 8–0 2010 Gene Chizik 14–0 8–0 2013 Gus Malzahn 12–2 7–1 † Co-champions
Division championships