Why Auburn fans expected national championships during the Nick Saban era

Auburn enjoyed as much success as the next program during Nick Saban’s reign over college football, but to some, it wasn’t enough.

The yearly expectation for the Tigers is to win. When that doesn’t happen — especially when Alabama goes on to enjoy success in the same season — it’s hard to blame the fans for feeling the way they do. Auburn Live’s Justin Hokanson explained why, despite Auburn’s successes, fell short of expectations in many fans eyes over the last decade plus.

“You’re comparing yourself every day to the greatest run in the history of college football, which is what Nick Saban just accomplished at Alabama,” Hokanson told On3’s Andy Staples. “So every year after year, you’re comparing yourself to that — so nothing would match up. Auburn, since 2010, they’ve been to the national championship game twice. They’ve been to the championship game in their conference three times.

“There are a ton of teams that would that would take that, absolutely. But when you’re comparing it to your rival, and the team across the state, nothing’s going to match up to that.”

At the same time, Hokanson explained that while Auburn fell short in catching up to Alabama during the Saban era, it was always an interesting dynamic because Alabama expects championships on a yearly basis. But so does Auburn.

“It’s been interesting trying to say, ‘Well, how is that a realistic expectation when Nick Saban is doing what he’s doing at Alabama in the division and in the conference right there?’ And to Auburn fans credit, I think for the most part, they’re like, ‘No, we’re not going to change. We think that’s what we should do.’ And it’s probably caused some issues at times in terms of expectations for coaches by fans. But that’s the expectation, and it always has been even with Nick Saban there.”

Now that Saban has stepped down from his post as Alabama headman, other programs within the SEC such as Auburn have an opportunity to regain their status as top contenders in the league.

With the Saban’s departure coinciding with a massive realignment throughout Power Five conferences and the expansion of the College Football Playoff, Auburn’s expectations remain high heading into year two under Hugh Freeze, but there is now more room for error when it comes to rivalry matchups against teams like Alabama and Georgia.

Now that college football will look entirely different next season, it will be interesting to see where both the Crimson Tide and Tigers are by the time the Iron Bowl rolls around in November and the implications it may play on the SEC Championship and CFP races.