The Auburn Tigers appear to be a top-tier college program, so much so that they're now claiming national titles. However, it's actually been some time since the Tigers were elite. They have spent the last 10 years being mediocre for most of it, although the overall 70-57 record is solid.
It's not, however, what you expect from Auburn, which is why CBS Sports insider David Cobb ranked them the third most overrated program of the last decade, and that's largely due to Gus Malzahn's disastrous run at the end of his tenure. The coaching hasn't been good for Auburn in a while.
"Auburn's decade of gloom encompasses the final six years of Gus Malzahn's tenure, the disastrous two-year reign of Bryan Harsin and a similarly uninspiring beginning to Hugh Freeze's run. The program's 15-38 mark vs. ranked foes is largely explained by a 2-8 record vs. arch rival Alabama and a 1-10 mark vs. historic rival Georgia (they met twice in 2017)," Cobb said.
During those 10 years, no Auburn recruiting class has been outside the top 20 in the nation, but they have yet to finish as a top-10 team more than once. "Harsin's hire was graded a B+, and landing Freeze earned the Tigers an A," Cobb said. "But the Tigers have nonetheless continued falling short of the pace set by the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide and of their own standards."
If that continues, it might be time to reevaluate how we perceive Auburn among the pantheon of college football programs.