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Texas A&M awards Jimbo Fisher the FCS championship for an undetermined year in the 21st Century

Sure, Aggies.

By Morgan Moriarty Updated

Well hello there. It’s February, and you probably thought the days of claiming national championships — a la our beloved UCF Knights — were over. Well, folks, Texas A&M’s chancellor, John Sharp, just presented Aggie head coach Jimbo Fisher with an “NCAA Division I Football National Championship” trophy. The date is blank, reading simply “20--” for the year:

Screenshot/YouTube

So Fisher’s got a whole 82 years to get that championship in!

It was presented to Fisher after Texas A&M-Commerce’s Colby Carthel got a similar award from the A&M system recognizing Commerce’s 2017 DII title.

But there are a few important things happening here.

  1. This “NCAA Division I Football National Championship” trophy doesn’t exist on the FBS level. The only national title the NCAA awards for football at the Division I level is the FCS trophy.
NCAA Football: DI Football Championship Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

This is what the main FBS trophy currently looks like (you also get a handful of others, but none of them from the NCAA):

CFP National Championship presented by AT&T - Alabama v Georgia Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

2. This isn’t the first time Texas A&M has claimed a national title out of pretty thin air. In 2012, A&M tacked 1919 and 1927 claims onto the stadium, largely based on what retroactive stats thought about those seasons. It’s a college football tradition.

3. This is hardly the first dubious claim the Aggies have had this week. On Monday, TAMU used this poster to illustrate how many great defensive backs Fisher has “coached.”

Let’s just say former Florida State University DB Jalen Ramsey called the B.S. here perfectly.

4. Fisher has 82 years to cash in this trophy, a period of time that somehow makes his $7 million, guaranteed, 10-year contract with A&M seem short. At current rates and without even factoring inflation/raises, the Aggies might have to pay Fisher as many as $615 million in total for this title.

5. The motivational (?) plaque seems to have backfired. Let’s check in on Aggies at Good Bull Hunting:

Naturally, Twitter had lots of jokes about the trophy:

Thanks to UCF and A&M, declaring things is as hot a trend as ever in college football. Let’s hope someone tells Fisher about the one tiny wording detail that makes this trophy not the same one he’d get if the Aggies were to win an actual national title.

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