50 Fun Facts About Auburn

Under what name was Auburn chartered in 1856?

It was a private Methodist liberal arts college before becoming the state's first land-grant school in 1872.

In which year was the school renamed Auburn University and granted university status?

It had been unofficially called 'Auburn' since at least the 1930s, when Jordan-Hare Stadium opened.

What was the school called from 1899 until 1960?

The name change reflected that it had outgrown its agricultural and mechanical roots.

Which federal act made Auburn Alabama's first land-grant university in 1872?

It was the first land-grant school in the South established separately from a state university.

Whose alma mater inspired Auburn's orange and blue colours?

George Petrie, Auburn's first football coach, borrowed them from his old school.

What is Auburn's battle cry and greeting?

Legend has it that an eagle crashed to the field and died after an Auburn victory, and its spirit lives on in the yell.

What is the name of Auburn's costumed tiger mascot?

He was created by Birmingham Post-Herald artist Phil Neel in 1959 and has won a record ten national mascot titles.

What do Auburn fans do at Toomer's Corner after big wins?

Store owner Sheldon Toomer once tossed receipt paper into the trees to signal a road victory, and the tradition grew from there.

What happened to the Toomer's Corner oaks after the 2010 Iron Bowl?

The chemical was Spike 80DF; the trees eventually had to be removed and replaced.

Toomer's Corner takes its name from what kind of business?

Toomer's Drugs has stood at Magnolia Avenue and College Street since 1896.

The Iron Bowl takes its name from the industry of which Alabama city, where it was long played?

Birmingham rivalled Pittsburgh in pig iron, coke and steel; the game began in 1893 and has been played annually since 1948.

In which year was the Iron Bowl first played at Jordan-Hare Stadium?

That day also produced the largest Tiger Walk in history.

In which neutral-site stadium was the Iron Bowl played for decades?

Tickets were split evenly between the schools; Alabama won 34 games there to Auburn's 18.

How many yards did Chris Davis return the missed field goal in the 2013 Kick Six?

Alabama's 57-yard attempt fell short with one second left; Davis had been waiting just in front of the goalposts.

How long was Alabama's field-goal attempt that Auburn's Chris Davis returned for the Kick Six?

Nick Saban had chosen to try it after Cade Foster missed two earlier kicks in the game.

How many Heisman Trophy winners has Auburn produced?

Pat Sullivan (1971), Bo Jackson (1985) and Cam Newton (2010).

Which Auburn Heisman winner is the only pro athlete ever named an All-Star in two major American sports?

He was a Pro Bowler with the Raiders and an MLB All-Star with the Royals, and Nike's 'Bo Knows' ads made him a household name.

The Heisman Trophy's namesake coached at Auburn during which years?

Auburn is the only school Heisman coached that has produced a Heisman winner.

Which coach led Auburn to its first AP national championship in 1957?

He won 176 games from 1951 to 1975, the most of any Auburn coach, and the stadium bears his name.

With which school does Auburn share the 1957 national title?

Auburn took the AP crown; the Coaches' Poll went to Ohio State.

Whom did Auburn beat in the BCS National Championship Game to cap the 2010 season?

The 22-19 win in Glendale finished a perfect 14-0 season under Gene Chizik.

Which quarterback won the Heisman in 2010 and led Auburn to the national title?

He had transferred from Florida via Blinn College and went first overall to the Panthers the following spring.

How many national championships does Auburn football claim in total?

Only 1957 and 2010 came from the major wire-service polls; the others are 1910, 1913, 1914, 1958, 1983, 1993 and 2004.

Which record did Auburn's 56-17 win over South Carolina in the 2010 SEC Championship Game set?

It sent Cam Newton's team to Glendale for the BCS title.

Which team beat Auburn 34-31 in the final seconds of the 2014 BCS National Championship Game?

That season had produced both the Prayer at Jordan-Hare and the Kick Six.

In which year did Jordan-Hare Stadium open?

On game days its 88,000-plus capacity makes it effectively Alabama's fifth-largest city.

What is the Tiger Walk?

Former AD David Housel called it 'the most copied tradition in all of college football'.

What flies over the field before Auburn home games?

Both golden and bald eagles have made the pre-game flight.

Who was named Auburn's 31st head football coach in November 2022?

He arrived from Liberty after Harsin was fired midway through his second season.

Which Auburn basketball star was SEC Player of the Year in 1984 and later a Hall of Famer?

He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2006.

In which two years has Auburn men's basketball reached the Final Four?

Bruce Pearl was named National Coach of the Year for the 2025 run.

Where does Auburn men's basketball play its home games?

It was formerly Auburn Arena, renamed for donor Bill Neville.

Which Apple CEO is an Auburn graduate?

He earned an industrial engineering degree there in 1982.

Which Wikipedia co-founder went to Auburn?

He studied finance there before co-founding the encyclopaedia in 2001.

Which Oscar-winning actress is an Auburn alumna?

She won Best Supporting Actress for The Help.

How many astronauts has Auburn graduated?

They include Apollo 16's Ken Mattingly.

Which Auburn team won eight NCAA titles between 1997 and 2009?

The women's swim team added five national titles of its own.

In which unusual sport did Auburn win its first national championship in 2006?

The team has added several titles since, most recently in 2019.

The city of Auburn's nickname, 'The Loveliest Village on the Plains', comes from a poem by whom?

The line 'Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain' opens The Deserted Village (1770).

Auburn sits in which Alabama county?

It anchors the Auburn-Opelika metro area.

The 1972 Iron Bowl upset that spawned the tradition of rolling Toomer's Corner is known by what nickname?

Auburn blocked two punts for touchdowns to beat No. 2 Alabama.

Which Auburn coach joins Heisman, Donahue and Jordan on the College Football Hall of Fame list?

He coached the 1983 team of Bo Jackson to an 11-1 finish against the nation's toughest schedule.

Auburn joined the Southeastern Conference as an inaugural member in which year?

Before that the Tigers played in the SIAA and the Southern Conference; they moved into the SEC West when divisions began in 1992.

What nickname is given to Auburn's season-ending stretch of games against Georgia and Alabama?

The name borrows from golf's Augusta National, a fitting nod for a Deep South rivalry double-header.

Auburn played the first football game in the Deep South in 1892 at which Atlanta location?

The opponent was Georgia, launching what is now called the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.

Which Auburn swimmer won three gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics?

Under coach David Marsh the programme later became a dynasty, winning five straight NCAA men's titles from 2003 to 2007.

Auburn's 1896 Pajama Parade tradition began the night before a game against which school?

Mischievous cadets sneaked out of their dorms to show up the better-known engineers from Atlanta.

In which foreign city did Auburn make its first bowl appearance, at the 1937 Bacardi Bowl?

It was the sixth edition of the Cuban bowl game.

Which coach led Auburn to a perfect season in 1993, his first year on the Plains?

The Tigers were the only unbeaten team in major college football but were barred from television and bowls by NCAA sanctions.

Where was the mascot Aubie introduced as a live costumed tiger on February 28, 1979?

He debuted at the SEC basketball tournament and helped Sonny Smith's team upset Vanderbilt that day.