AUBURN — The future of Sports Illustrated seems to be in flux.

Front Office Sports reported Friday morning that The Arena Group, the publisher of SI, intended to lay off all SI employees. Pat Forde, however, later posted a statement from Matt Lombardi, the senior vice president of growth for The Arena Group, to "correct some erroneous reporting." Forde has worked at SI since 2019, and Lombardi has been with The Arena Group since June 2021.

"We are going to continue to operate Sports Illustrated," Lombardi said, per Forde. "... Either Arena or someone else is going to have the license to operate Sports Illustrated." Forde added that "the entire staff was not laid off" and that there "is a website and a magazine."

Regardless, with all the uncertainty, here's a ranking of the five most iconic Auburn-related SI covers:

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5. Auburn football's Ricardo Louis and Chris Davis: Dec. 30, 2013

After Ricardo Louis hauled in a batted-up pass to beat Georgia in November 2013 and gave fans what was believed to be a once-in-a-lifetime miracle — immortalized as the "Prayer in Jordan-Hare" — the Tigers topped it later that month with the "Kick Six," as Chris Davis returned a missed kick to secure walk-off win over Alabama in the Iron Bowl.

4. Jason Campbell and the undefeated 2004 Tigers: Jan. 14, 2005

Auburn was one of three teams to finish undefeated in 2004. The Tigers were the unlucky program left out of the national championship game, as USC beat Oklahoma for the title. Auburn and quarterback Jason Campbell defeated Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.

3. Cam Newton leads Auburn to national title: Jan. 17, 2011

The Tigers, led by quarterback Cam Newton, secured the national championship with a win over Oregon in January 2011. Newton completed 58.8% of his 34 throws against the Ducks for 265 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 64 yards on the ground.

2. Chris Davis and the Kick Six: Dec. 9, 2013

It wasn't originally Davis who was lined up in position to return a missed field goal, but Auburn coach Gus Malzahn called a timeout to ice Alabama kicker Adam Griffith and the Tigers placed Davis underneath the goalposts. He caught Griffith's short kick and made arguably the sport's most-remembered play.

1. Chris Porter graces cover, leads to future inspiration: Nov. 15, 1999

Sports Illustrated named Auburn basketball the No. 1 team in its preseason rankings ahead of the 1999-00 season, and Chris Porter was a big reason why. Porter was coming off a season in which he averaged 60 points per game. The Tigers finished 24-10.

Porter's image was later used by Auburn as inspiration for a mock cover created by the athletics department that featured Jabari Smith Jr. posing in a similar manner.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn's Sports Illustrated covers: Remembering 5 iconic SI covers