Auburn claimed a little more silverware on Tuesday, bringing its national championship count from two to nine. Four new titles and three previously unrecognized ones will now feature inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. Reactions poured in and you could say some people, such as ESPN’s Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, are unhappy. Russo went on a rant about […]
Auburn claimed a little more silverware on Tuesday, bringing its national championship count from two to nine. Four new titles and three previously unrecognized ones will now feature inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. Reactions poured in and you could say some people, such as ESPN’s Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, are unhappy.
Russo went on a rant about Auburn claiming new national titles, specifically 1983. He broke down the famous Orange Bowl between Miami and Nebraska, one where the Hurricanes emerged victorious due to a last-second failed two-point conversion by Tom Osborne’s team. Miami jumped up four spots and earned the championship by being No. 1 in the AP poll.
“Miami jumped from five to one, they’re the national champions that year,” Russo said Wednesday on First Take. “Auburn yesterday said ‘Nonsense, we’re the champions.’ No you’re not, Auburn. What a disgrace. You barely beat Michigan, 9-7. Miami in ’83 was the legitimate national championship. Take that banner down… That is a frickin disgrace. For you to disparage Miami and that great game by saying now, you deserve the championship. Nonsense. Miami beat No. 1 Nebraska, jumped five to one, they deserve it.”
Auburn finished 1983 with an 11-1 overall record, including the win against Michigan Russo mentioned in the Sugar Bowl. Texas was the lone team to beat the Tigers that year, going to Jordan-Hare Stadium and winning by 13 points. Every other game went Auburn’s way, led by head coach Pat Dye and running back Bo Jackson.
When the final AP poll came out, Auburn found itself at No. 3. However, multiple outlets recognize them as the national champions, mainly the New York Times and the Billingsley Report, due to being No. 1 in their respective rankings. Over 30 years later, the program finally decided to recognize the team as national champions.
Russo is having none of it, wanting Miami to be the lone team that has the title of ‘1983 national champions.’ Miami has five claimed titles throughout its history, the first of which was in 1983. Head coach Howard Schellenberger got the ball rolling before Jimmy Johnson won another one four years later.
However, given there was no national championship game to decide results on the field, Auburn is free to claim it. Different from modern times in the College Football Playoff era, plenty of other schools out there have claimed titles where many might believe somebody else was truly on top.
Category: General Sports
