They are probably just outside the top 10. But they played in and won a ton of huge games in the Tuberville era. ESPN's rankings from a couple years ago put them 21st. 7th of current SEC teams Just looked at the list and I don't really think 16-20 compare to Auburn when it comes to recent success and recruiting buzz. I don't think Auburn measures up against Iowa, West Virginia, Va Tech, Oregon, or Boise if that's how you're going to judge it, but all of them are below Auburn. I don't see how winning 7-8 games a year the past 15 years and having "recruiting buzz"(??) makes one a Cadillac program They're more in the 8-9 range since 2000 with an 11 win season and one 13-0 season (that counts for a lot). Iowa's a good comparison. The difference is that Auburn is in a much more fertile recruiting ground so them getting highly ranked classes isn't a surprise.