University of Chicago in the Western Conference (Big Ten):
The Maroons under Amos Alonzo Stagg were an early football powerhouse, winning seven Big Ten titles and boasting the first Heisman winner and number one NFL draft pick Jay Berwanger. Another interesting tidbit is that Lake Forest College in Chicago was a part of the original Big Ten meeting to discuss the regulation of intercollegiate athletics; they missed the meeting where the Western Conference was formed and were replaced by Michigan. Chicago is now in the DIII University Athletic Assocation.

Washington University and Grinnell in the Midwestern Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (Big 8):
From what I see, neither program had much success in the MVIAA, they along with the smaller schools were booted out to what would become the Missouri Valley Conference in 1928. WashU is now with Chicago and other elite universities in the UAA, while Grinnell is in the DIII Midwest Conference with Lake Forest.

Idaho and Montana in the Pacific Coast Conference (precursor to Pac-12):
A number of scandals (not involving either of these two schools) would doom the PCC, which would reform into the Athletic of Association of Western Universities, later the Pac-8. Montana had already left for the Mountain States Conference after 1950 (presumably for better travel), though Idaho wasn't invited to the AAWU after years of being non-competitive.

Sewanee in the SEC:
The 1899 Tigers football team was probably the most dominant in history, going 12-0, posting 11 shutouts, and outscoring opponents 322-10. Five of those wins came within six days (all shutouts) despite having to travel 2,500 miles by train. Yet a generation later, they would never win a conference game in the SEC; they were shutout 26 of 37 times, and outscored 1163-84. They're now in the DIII Southern Athletic Association.

Less-ridiculous examples are Drake and SLU in the MVIAA, Tulane in the SEC, or Wayne State and Case Western Reserve in the MAC. Granted, all of these examples out of context in 2013 seem bizarre, though college athletics were obviously far different a hundred (or even fifty) years ago than today.

There were other interesting conference ideas floated around a long time ago, such as the Airplane Conference in the late fifties (the three academies, Notre Dame, Penn, Penn State, Duke, and GT) along with the Magnolia Conference (Duke, Rice, Tulane, SMU, and Vanderbilt) in the early sixties. The former was rejected by the Pentagon and the idea collapsed after the service academies backed out. The latter never happened since Rice and SMU didn't want to give up their Cotton Bowl revenue and Duke did not want to end their UNC rivalry.

one of the oldest conferences was the rocky mountain athletic conference which has its first roots in 1902 but wasnt officially formed until 1909.

it is still active today (only has 1 charter member left) and is the 5th oldest conference in the NCAA

utah
utah st
byu
colorado*
colorado state*
colorado college*
colorado school of mines*
western state
northern colorado
denver
montana state
wyoming

*charter member

(07-28-2013 10:39 PM)john01992 Wrote:  one of the oldest conferences was the rocky mountain athletic conference which has its first roots in 1902 but wasnt officially formed until 1909.

it is still active today (only has 1 charter member left) and is the 5th oldest conference in the NCAA

utah
utah st
byu
colorado*
colorado state*
colorado college*
colorado school of mines*
western state
northern colorado
denver
montana state
wyoming

*charter member

CSM's coach is a very smart offensive innovator. Here's a 2012 article about him from USA Today.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nca...e/1659819/

Quote:GOLDEN, Colo. – The best offensive mind you've never heard of was home Jan. 4, watching football way past his 7-year old son's bedtime. The Orange Bowl kept going later and later, the outcome long since decided, but Bob Stitt didn't want his family to miss a single snap. West Virginia just kept scoring and scoring, but even from 2,000 miles away in suburban Denver, Stitt couldn't help but feel a connection to one of the most important games of the season.

The Mountaineers eventually put up 70 points that night, running one play over and over that Clemson just couldn't stop. Stitt recognized the play immediately. He had invented it.

. . .

But when the Orange Bowl ended and Stitt got up to put his son to bed, he almost did a double-take. As ESPN's Lisa Salters was finishing her postgame interview with Holgorsen, she asked about the play that "looked like a volleyball toss" and nobody could quite figure out.

A big smile crept across Holgorsen's face. "My good friend Bob Stitt at Colorado School of Mines gave me that," Holgorsen said.

Stitt had to run it back on DVR. He couldn't believe it.

Another article: http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry...8/34204146

(07-28-2013 10:48 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(07-28-2013 10:39 PM)john01992 Wrote:  one of the oldest conferences was the rocky mountain athletic conference which has its first roots in 1902 but wasnt officially formed until 1909.

it is still active today (only has 1 charter member left) and is the 5th oldest conference in the NCAA

utah
utah st
byu
colorado*
colorado state*
colorado college*
colorado school of mines*
western state
northern colorado
denver
montana state
wyoming

*charter member

CSM's coach is a very smart offensive innovator. Here's a 2012 article about him from USA Today.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nca...e/1659819/

Quote:GOLDEN, Colo. – The best offensive mind you've never heard of was home Jan. 4, watching football way past his 7-year old son's bedtime. The Orange Bowl kept going later and later, the outcome long since decided, but Bob Stitt didn't want his family to miss a single snap. West Virginia just kept scoring and scoring, but even from 2,000 miles away in suburban Denver, Stitt couldn't help but feel a connection to one of the most important games of the season.

The Mountaineers eventually put up 70 points that night, running one play over and over that Clemson just couldn't stop. Stitt recognized the play immediately. He had invented it.

. . .

But when the Orange Bowl ended and Stitt got up to put his son to bed, he almost did a double-take. As ESPN's Lisa Salters was finishing her postgame interview with Holgorsen, she asked about the play that "looked like a volleyball toss" and nobody could quite figure out.

A big smile crept across Holgorsen's face. "My good friend Bob Stitt at Colorado School of Mines gave me that," Holgorsen said.

Stitt had to run it back on DVR. He couldn't believe it.

Another article: http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry...8/34204146

yeah its cool when these offenses come from really bizarre places. for example the wildcat offense was invented by a high school in my hometown in upstate NY of all places

Ohio State was a charter member of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) which is still around as a division 3 conference today. It was there for 10 years before joining what would have then been commonly called the Western Conference (Big Ten would be the later nickname) in 1912.

The Ohio only conference has changed a lot of over the years. None of its charter members remain. The only member left at all from Ohio State's time there Heidelberg College which joined in 1907. The teams that have left have gone in all directions. The other 7 Ohio division I-A teams also started in the OAC (the 7 MAC schools, Cincinnati) as well as Xavier.

In the 80's Arkansas, LSU, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, and Nebraska met to talk about forming a league but nothing happened of course.

for a few years Arkansas State and Northern Illinois were football-only affiliates in the Big West. and North Texas was a full member. I know that was all in the 90s but it is still a funny affiliation.

The SEC has had some funny previous members.

Random crap heard on a football telecast: Only two schools ever scored 7 consecutive wins over the Crim$on Tide: Tennessee and The University of the South (Sewanee).

(07-28-2013 10:27 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  University of Chicago in the Western Conference (Big Ten):
The Maroons under Amos Alonzo Stagg were an early football powerhouse, winning seven Big Ten titles and boasting the first Heisman winner (and number one NFL draft pick). Another interesting tidbit is that Lake Forest College in Chicago was a part of the original meeting to discuss the regulation of intercollegiate athletics; they missed the meeting where the Western Conference was formed, and were replaced by Michigan. Chicago is now in the DIII University Athletic Assocation.

Washington University and Grinnell in the Midwestern Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (Big 8):
From what I see, neither program had much success in the MVIAA, they along with the smaller schools were booted out to what would become the Missouri Valley Conference. WashU is now with Chicago and other elite universities in the UAA, while Grinnell is in the DIII Midwest Conference with Lake Forest.

Idaho and Montana in the Pacific Coast Conference (precursor to Pac-12):
A number of scandals (not involving either of these two schools) would doom the PCC, which would arise as the Athletic of Association of Western Universities, later the Pac-8. Montana had already left for the Mountain States Conference after 1950 (presumably for better travel), though Idaho wasn't invited to the AAWU after years of being non-competitive.

Sewanee in the SEC:
The 1899 Tigers football team was probably the most dominant in history, going 12-0, posting 11 shutouts, and outscoring opponents 322-10. Five of those wins came within six days (all shutouts) despite having to travel 2,500 miles by train. Yet a generation later, they would never win a conference game in the SEC, were shutout 26 of 37 times, and were outscored 1163-84. They're now in the DIII Southern Athletic Association.

Less-ridiculous examples are Drake and SLU in the MVIAA, Tulane in the SEC, or Wayne State and Case Western Reserve in the MAC. Granted, all of these examples out of context in 2013 seem bizarre, though college athletics were obviously far different a hundred (or even fifty) years ago than today.

There were other interesting conference ideas floated around a long time ago, such as the Airplane Conference in the late fifties (the three academies, Notre Dame, Penn, Penn State, Duke, and GT) along with the Magnolia Conference (Duke, Rice, Tulane, SMU, and Vanderbilt) in the early sixties. The former was rejected by the Pentagon and the idea collapsed after the service academies backed out. The latter never happened since Rice and SMU didn't want to give up their Cotton Bowl revenue and Duke did not want to end their UNC rivalry.

Actually The University of Chicago is still affiliated with the Big Ten on its academic side (CIC). Although it is no longer a power house in sports, it is obviously an academic powerhouse.

The old Border Conference (1932-62) had the following membership:

Arizona
Arizona State
Hardin-Simmons
New Mexico
New Mexico State
Northern Arizona
Texas Tech
UTEP
West Texas

One of my favorites was The Big Sky Conference (1964-94). Gotta love that name.

Boise State
Eastern Washington
Gonzaga
Idaho
Idaho State
Montana
Montana state
Nevada
Northern Arizona
Weber State

I love the idea (and hate the name) of the "Magnolia Conference". I still think there's a one-in-a-million chance it could happen if college athletics gets too out of control and the Southern private schools decide to bail:

Duke
Wake
Miami
Vanderbilt
Tulane
Tulsa
SMU
TCU
Baylor
Rice

You could even throw in these schools and expand the conference:

Syracuse
BC
Northwestern
ND
BYU

(07-29-2013 09:10 AM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  Actually The University of Chicago is still affiliated with the Big Ten on its academic side (CIC). Although it is no longer a power house in sports, it is obviously an academic powerhouse.

Of course, Chicago is one of the best schools in the nation. Who knows if they would've been at their present academic level if they had stayed in the Big Ten and were at a competitive level (though I guess Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Stanford, etc. have been able to). Michigan State wouldn't have joined to fill the Maroons' void; speaking of which, other schools considered to replace Chicago in 1949 were Pitt, Nebraska, Marquette, ND, and Iowa State. After adding Penn State 1990, rumors also swirled of them inviting two teams out of KU, Mizzou, or Rutgers to give them a two-division conference of seven teams each (that ended with the creation of the Big 12).

(07-29-2013 09:10 AM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  

(07-28-2013 10:27 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  University of Chicago in the Western Conference (Big Ten):
The Maroons under Amos Alonzo Stagg were an early football powerhouse, winning seven Big Ten titles and boasting the first Heisman winner (and number one NFL draft pick). Another interesting tidbit is that Lake Forest College in Chicago was a part of the original meeting to discuss the regulation of intercollegiate athletics; they missed the meeting where the Western Conference was formed, and were replaced by Michigan. Chicago is now in the DIII University Athletic Assocation.

Washington University and Grinnell in the Midwestern Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (Big 8):
From what I see, neither program had much success in the MVIAA, they along with the smaller schools were booted out to what would become the Missouri Valley Conference. WashU is now with Chicago and other elite universities in the UAA, while Grinnell is in the DIII Midwest Conference with Lake Forest.

Idaho and Montana in the Pacific Coast Conference (precursor to Pac-12):
A number of scandals (not involving either of these two schools) would doom the PCC, which would arise as the Athletic of Association of Western Universities, later the Pac-8. Montana had already left for the Mountain States Conference after 1950 (presumably for better travel), though Idaho wasn't invited to the AAWU after years of being non-competitive.

Sewanee in the SEC:
The 1899 Tigers football team was probably the most dominant in history, going 12-0, posting 11 shutouts, and outscoring opponents 322-10. Five of those wins came within six days (all shutouts) despite having to travel 2,500 miles by train. Yet a generation later, they would never win a conference game in the SEC, were shutout 26 of 37 times, and were outscored 1163-84. They're now in the DIII Southern Athletic Association.

Less-ridiculous examples are Drake and SLU in the MVIAA, Tulane in the SEC, or Wayne State and Case Western Reserve in the MAC. Granted, all of these examples out of context in 2013 seem bizarre, though college athletics were obviously far different a hundred (or even fifty) years ago than today.

There were other interesting conference ideas floated around a long time ago, such as the Airplane Conference in the late fifties (the three academies, Notre Dame, Penn, Penn State, Duke, and GT) along with the Magnolia Conference (Duke, Rice, Tulane, SMU, and Vanderbilt) in the early sixties. The former was rejected by the Pentagon and the idea collapsed after the service academies backed out. The latter never happened since Rice and SMU didn't want to give up their Cotton Bowl revenue and Duke did not want to end their UNC rivalry.

Actually The University of Chicago is still affiliated with the Big Ten on its academic side (CIC). Although it is no longer a power house in sports, it is obviously an academic powerhouse.

i think they still have some weird athletic status with the b10 that makes them an athletic member. if they make the move to d1 in any b10 sport the b10 is contractually required to take them in.

(07-29-2013 09:41 AM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  I love the idea (and hate the name) of the "Magnolia Conference". I still think there's a one-in-a-million chance it could happen if college athletics gets too out of control and the Southern private schools decide to bail:

Duke
Wake
Miami
Vanderbilt
Tulane
Tulsa
SMU
TCU
Baylor
Rice

You could even throw in these schools and expand the conference:

Syracuse
BC
Northwestern
ND
BYU

I believe Wake tried to revive the Magnolia recently (maybe in the 90s?).

The Southern Conference used to consist of the SEC and southern ACC schools (VA/MD south). It has as many as 23 members before the SEC split in 1932. It got back up to 17 (including WVU) when the ACC split in 1953. Since then it has been hovering in the 8-12 range.

(07-29-2013 01:54 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  for a few years Arkansas State and Northern Illinois were football-only affiliates in the Big West. and North Texas was a full member. I know that was all in the 90s but it is still a funny affiliation.

The Sun Belt is effectively a continuation of the Big West in football-once the Sun Belt took in UNT that was effectively the end of Big West football.

If today's rules were in place, could you imagine the Big West extending football-only invitations to FIU or South Alabama?

(07-28-2013 10:27 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  There were other interesting conference ideas floated around a long time ago, such as the Airplane Conference in the late fifties (the three academies, Notre Dame, Penn, Penn State, Duke, and GT) along with the Magnolia Conference (Duke, Rice, Tulane, SMU, and Vanderbilt) in the early sixties. The former was rejected by the Pentagon and the idea collapsed after the service academies backed out. The latter never happened since Rice and SMU didn't want to give up their Cotton Bowl revenue and Duke did not want to end their UNC rivalry.

You forgot the western portion of the airplane conference. Washington, Cal, Stanford, USC, and UCLA.

Also how about Iowa existing as simultaneous full members of the MVIAA and Western Conference.

It's too bad that Magnolia Conference didn't work out. It would be like an Ivy League of the south. Those schools are clearly more focused on academics than athletics. Wake and Vandy have a lot more in common with Tulane and Rice than they do with the other schools in their current conferences.

NIU was in the Big West for a few years.