Auburn Tigers

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The Auburn Tigers is the name given to several sports teams of Auburn University. The university is a member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 18 varsity teams in 13 sports. Men's varsity sports at Auburn include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, swimming and diving, tennis, and track and field. Women's varsity sports include basketball, cross country, equestrian, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

Football

As of 2008, Auburn has won six Southeastern Conference football championships, winning the western division six times since the conference was split in 1992. They were crowned national champions by the Associated Press in 1957. The 2004 Auburn Tigers also went undefeated, but were left out of the championship game under the Bowl Championship Series formula.

Auburn was one of the first colleges to field a football team. Their 1892 game against Georgia in Atlanta was the first intercollegiate football game in the South. In 1895, legendary coach John Heisman arrived for a successful four-year span. The Tigers' first bowl appearance was in 1937 in the sixth Bacardi Bowl played in Havana, Cuba. Two Auburn players, Bo Jackson in 1985 and Pat Sullivan in 1971, have won the Heisman Trophy.

Auburn's long-running series against archrival Alabama is known as the "Iron Bowl". Alabama leads the series over Auburn 46-36-1.

Auburn plays its home games on campus in Jordan-Hare Stadium, which has a capacity of 87,451.

Swimming and diving

Auburn's swimming teams have won numerous national titles in the last decade under coach David Marsh. The men's team was national champions in 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. The women's team won championships in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006.

Many Auburn swimmers have competed for their respective home countries in the Olympic Games. Notable medalists include Rowdy Gaines (1984) and Kirsty Coventry (2004).

Men's basketball

The Auburn men's basketball team has enjoyed off-and-on success over the years. The best known players that came through the program are Charles Barkley, Chuck Person, Wesley Person, Chris Porter, Marquis Daniels, Moochie Norris, and Pat Burke. As of March 24, 2010, the head coach is Tony Barbee.

Men's soccer

Soccer was introduced at Auburn in 1912 by athletic director Mike Donahue. It was considered an off-season alternative to rugby. With Marion Institute fielding the only other college soccer team nearby, Auburn's varsity squad scheduled matches against groups of British veteran players from mining towns like Blossburg, and against All-Star teams from Atlanta and Birmingham.

Women's basketball

Though the Auburn women's basketball competes in a premiere league featuring powerhouse Tennessee, the Lady Tigers have won four regular season SEC championships and four SEC Tournament championships. Auburn has made 16 appearances in the NCAA women's basketball tournament and have made it past the first round 15 times. Auburn played in three consecutive National Championship games from 1988–1990 and won the Women's NIT in 2003. Nell Fortner replaced retiring long-time head coach Joe Ciampi in 2005. Notable former players include Ruthie Bolton, Vickie Orr, Carolyn Jones, Chantel Tremitiere and Monique Morehouse.

Baseball

Auburn Baseball has won six SEC championships, three SEC Tournament championships, appeared in sixteen NCAA Regionals and reached the College World Series (CWS) four times. Tom Slater, promoted in 2005, is the head coach. The Tigers play their home games at 4,096-seat Samford Stadium in Plainsman Park. Notable former players include Bo Jackson, Frank Thomas, Gregg Olson, Tim Hudson, Mark Bellhorn and Gabe Gross.

Women's Golf

The Auburn's Women's Golf team holds a 854-167-13 (.826) record since 1999. The program has a total of six SEC Championships (1989, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, and 2006), and has played in five NCAA finals, finishing 2nd in 2002 and 3rd in 2005. The program has also had 8 individual All-Americans in the same span. Head coach Kim Evans was named national coach of the year in 2003.

Women's Soccer

Started in 1993, the Auburn women's soccer team won five straight SEC western division titles between 2001 and 2006.

Equestrian

Auburn is one of 21 colleges currently competing in equestrian events, which are not yet recognized by the NCAA. The team won an unofficial national championship in 2006.

Women's Track and Field

Auburn's Women's Track and Field won the 2006 National NCAA Outdoor title over USC by a score of 57 to 38.5.

Traditions

Aubie

Main article: Aubie

Tiger Walk

Before each home football game the football team walks for one block down Donohue Avenue toward Jordan-Hare Stadium. Thousands of fans line both sides of the street to cheer the team. This tradition started informally in the 1960s, and was encouraged by football coach Doug Barfield, in the 1970s. The largest crowd for a Tiger Walk was reportedly in excess of 20,000 prior to the 1989 Iron Bowl, the first to be played in Auburn.

Toomer's Corner

Main article: Toomer's Corner

The intersection of Magnolia and College streets in Auburn, which marks the transition from downtown Auburn to the university campus, is known as Toomer's Corner. It is named after Toomer's Drugs, a small store which opened in 1896.

According to tradition, there was a time when the store had the only telegraph in the city. When the Tigers won an away game, the clerks would roll the oak trees outside with toilet paper to signal the victory. Since then, the corner has become a gathering spot for victory celebrations, usually ending with the trees thickly-festooned with toilet paper. (webcam link)

In early 2011 a man identifying himself as "Al from Dadeville" boasted on the Paul Finebaum Radio Network of having poisoned the trees. A subsequent investigation showed that high doses of tebuthiuron had been introduced to the soil and there was little chance they would survive. On February 17, Auburn police arrested Harvey Updyke and charged him with criminal mischief.

The oaks were ultimately unable to be saved. They were removed after the April 20, 2013 A-Day intra-squad football game. The University announced they would replace the oaks with wire structures suitable for rolling until newly-planted trees had time to mature. A re-design of the 1917 entrance to Samford Park allowed for longer seat-walls and a broader paved plaza.

War Eagle

Main article: War Eagle

"War Eagle" is the battle cry for Auburn's athletic teams, and also a greeting used by fans to show their support. Its origin is uncertain, but a story written in 1960 by Auburn Plainsman editor Jim Phillips has it that an injured eagle was found and kept as a pet by a Civil War veteran who attended the 1892 Auburn-Georgia game. The eagle left its perch and soared over the field as Auburn took control of the game, inspiring the crowd to chant "War Eagle".

Since 1930, Auburn has kept a Golden Eagle as a mascot. War Eagle VII is the seventh (including the apocryphal 1892 eagle), and current animal mascot. In 1955 Auburn debuted a new fight song, entitled War Eagle.

Wreck Tech Pajama Parade

The Wreck Tech Pajama Parade is held before games against rival Georgia Tech. The parade makes reference to a stunt pulled by Auburn cadets in 1896 in which the railroad tracks were greased prior to the arrival of the visiting team. The Georgia Tech players ended up walking several miles from where the train eventually stopped, and lost the game 45 to 0.

References

External links