Since 2010, the Auburn Tigers have twice as many under-.500 seasons as they do double-digit win totals. They are far from the collegiate power they were in the days of Cam Newton. Despite that, The Athletic still considers them a supremely valuable college football program.
The Auburn Tigers have not really been as nationally relevant in recent years. They haven't won a title since Cam Newton dragged them through the SEC in one of the single most impressive runs of all time. They've had good seasons since 2010, but haven't really ever reached that height again.
Despite that, their historical success cannot be counted out. So when assessing a value for a hypothetical trade, The Athletic's Matt Baker accounted for that. There will never be a sale since these schools cannot operate like NFL teams no matter what the transfer portal and NIL do to college sports, but if there was a sale, the Tigers would bring in an impressive $1.06 billion, the 13th-best mark among all programs.
That's more money than the Oregon Ducks, Florida State Seminoles, and Michigan State Spartans would bring in despite Auburn seemingly falling on hard times lately. They're far from the caliber of program they once were, but that doesn't matter as much with the Tigers.
"Like Florida, the Tigers have been in an on-field funk. The national championship trophy Auburn won with Cam Newton is almost old enough to get its driver's license," Baker said. "We slotted the Tigers behind the Gators because Florida remains the flagship school of a large, still-growing state. Auburn is No. 2 in Alabama, a state with a quarter of the residents (5.2 million)."
So despite a run that has yielded double-digit wins just twice since 2010 and has four seasons under .500 in that frame, the Tigers are still a supremely valuable college football program.
Category: General Sports
