Recently, Auburn football went viral for claiming seven more national championships, pushing its total from two to nine. The titles they claimed were 1910, 1914, 1958, 1983, 1993, and 2004.

The response from the media and from the public went just about how you would imagine; the Tigers were ripped to shreds by just about everyone.

Now, with that being said, Penn State is in a similar boat that Auburn was. The Nittany Lions have reasonable claims for about seven national championships, but choose to only honor the two unanimous ones in 1982 and 1986.

Those years saw the Nittany Lions go a combined 23-1 with wins against Herschel Walker’s undefeated Georgia team in the Sugar Bowl and Miami in the Fiesta Bowl in one of Penn State’s most famous games in college football history.

The first year they could claim is 1911. With the only blemish on the record, a 0-0 tie against Navy, the Nittany Lions finished the year 8-0-1 record. While some still recognize Penn State as national champions, the Nittany Lions don’t claim the title; instead, 15-0-1 Princeton does.

1912 was a similar story for Penn State and another undefeated season. The Nittany Lions finished the year 8–0, shutting out seven of its opponents and winning those games by a combined score of 285-6. Once again, some selectors chose Penn State, with others leaning toward Harvard.

Now, those seasons were before a true national ranking system was put into place. 1968, however, there was an AP and coaches poll which had the Nittany Lions ranked No. 2 to end the season despite going 11-0 and beating Kansas in the Orange Bowl. This is because undefeated Ohio State took the top spot, a team Penn State didn’t get the chance to play that season.

Another undefeated season Penn State could claim was the following year, 1969. The Nittany Lions went 11-0 once again, beating SEC champion Missouri in the Orange Bowl. The voters, though, felt too much hype around Texas, also undefeated, which had just won the “Game of the Century” against No. 2 Arkansas.

Penn State could also realistically claim 1973. The Nittany Lions once again ended undefeated but finished No. 5 in the AP poll as voters claimed a weak schedule was the reason for Penn State’s success. The Nittany Lions did beat then No. 13 LSU and then No. 20 Pitt in the final two games of the season, but the AP poll was already set on crowning the winner of Alabama and Notre Dame.

The most recent year Penn State has a reasonable claim to the national title was 1994. The Nittany Lions went 12-0, defeating No. 12 Oregon in the Rose Bowl 38-20. For the AP voters, the win was not enough to pass the winner of the Miami, Nebraska game, which had been dubbed the pseudo-national championship before the match.

Now that the quick history lesson is over, two of our ball-knowing staffers decided to debate on whether Penn State should follow in Auburn’s footsteps and claim some of its missing national titles.

Michael Zeno: Penn State Should Claim More Titles

At one time, there was an innate charm to Penn State, having claimed only two consensus national championships. While other schools would rush to claim any elite season before the BCS as a national title with any semblance of validity, Penn State wouldn’t even go as far as to claim several undefeated seasons that multiple outlets claim as titles.

However, in the new era of college football, where everyone is chasing more glory, Penn State can’t just sit back and watch. If Auburn can claim a bunch of old titles that only one “selector” gave them a title, Penn State can too. They don’t even need to claim every good season under the sun, just claim 1969 and 1994 at least. Nobody would object to claiming two undefeated seasons that you didn’t have a chance to prove you’re the best because of conference bowl tie-ins and the lack of a national championship. Those teams deserve to be honored in the same way the dominant 1982 and 1986 teams were.

But you can go further. Penn State has three other unclaimed titles (1911, 1912, 1981) that have the same basis as other schools claiming titles. The team also went unbeaten in 1920, 1921, 1947, 1968, and 1973. If Alabama can claim a 9-2 season where they finished No. 20 in the AP poll, you can claim an undefeated season.

Ultimately, it might not matter that much. Penn State is trying to claim its first consensus national title in 39 years, and the past is hardly relevant as this group tries to end the drought. That said, Penn State football is one of the premier programs in the country and doesn’t claim the national championships of the other premier programs. To honor the legacy of the program’s past, they must follow the trend and beef up their accolades.

Collin Ward: Penn State Should Not Claim More Titles

Penn State is a football program that is deeply rooted in tradition. From the black shoes to Beaver Stadium to how James Franklin handles NIL and the transfer portal, everything about the Nittany Lions is done with respect to those that came before and with a reason.

Retroactively claiming national titles that were not recognized at the time feels revisionist. People can argue all they want about how this is a new era of college football and Penn State should change with it, but many of the school’s supporters and students feel a deep pride in being a part of a program that isn’t like the other guys.

Think about the teams that have been retroactively claiming titles, or claiming titles that aren’t there in general. UCF, Michigan, and Auburn aren’t exactly the schools that Penn State wants to get thrown into a group with.

Also, ask what the benefits of claiming titles actually are. It’s not like in the era of NIL, a recruit is going to commit here over somewhere else because we now have seven national titles instead of two. Some people will say it’s a way to honor those great teams, but to me, they already are. The 1911, 1912, 1968, 1969, and 1973 dates are proudly stamped on Beaver Stadium for 106,000 people to see each Saturday.

The final reason we should not claim the titles is that it only adds to the stigma that Penn State can’t win big games. While I know that is only a James Franklin era thing, I can already see the tweet from Notre Dame accounts saying we couldn’t win anything now, so we decided to claim the games from the past.

Regardless of whether Penn State claims the titles or not, the storied past of one of the best programs historically will forever be respected. To me, why cause controversy, break tradition, and give our rivals a chance to tarnish the Nittany Lions even more in the media over seasons 100-plus years ago?

Instead of focusing on the past, let’s focus on the present and winning another consensus national championship in 2025.