Auburn is a state institution It has just as much a right to claim the state of Alabama as its own as the University of Alabama. Still, that won't stop those in crimson and white from being more than a little irked by this, tweeted by Tigers AD Jay Jacobs:
The practice of claiming a state as part of your visual identity is part of what I am declaring a growing trend in the ever-competitive world of college sports branding.
It was just three days ago that Mississippi State unveiled special Egg Bowl uniforms with tiny outlines of the state borders on the numbers.
And earlier this year Texas A&M wore the state of Texas on their chest for a trip to Starkville:
This same dynamic has played out over the last decade or so on the basketball courts in the state of Texas.
This was Texas Tech's basketball court last season:
And this is how United Spirit Arena will appear in 2014-15:
Of course, Texas and Texas A&M have done the same for years.
Again, these are public institutions. It makes perfect logical sense that they would take pride in the state that supports them.
But logic has never gotten in the way of Alabama and Auburn pushing each other's buttons in the past.
