By Woodrow Carroll
In the 1947 Rose Bowl, the University of Illinois surprised favored UCLA, 45-14, to start a 13-year run, 1947-1959, of Big Ten Conference team victories in the Rose Bowl 12 times. The outlier was Wisconsin’s 7-0 defeat at the hands of Southern California in the 1953 Rose Bowl.
Many of those who have followed UCLA and Southern California’s recent move to the Big Ten, which will increase membership in 2023 to 16 schools, might be surprised to know that when the Fighting Illini defeated UCLA in 1947, the Big Ten was down to nine football teams.
The Big Ten lost the University of Chicago as a member in Spring 1946. It was a sad departure for many in the Big Ten Conference given that the University of Chicago was an original member and the school’s Jay Berwanger was the first recipient of the elite Heisman Trophy in 1935. The Heisman Trophy winner that year was required to be from a team east of the Mississippi River, a bias that soon ended with the selection of Texas Christian University’s (TCU) Davey O’Brien as the 1938 Heisman recipient.
Big Ten Conference stability is reflected in Illinois’ membership has been continuous since 1895 and the school has stayed faithful to its roots.
The University of Chicago was Illinois’ first Conference foe in football when the two schools tangled October 31, 1896 in Chicago. The legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg was the Chicago head coach and his charges were 12-0 victors.
Michigan State was not in the Big Ten in 1947, even though it started playing an increasing number of Big Ten schools. The Spartans became a full member of the Big Ten Conference in 1949. Michigan State embraced conference membership and was a Rose Bowl victor in both 1954 and 1956 seasons.
Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1990. As hard as it is to believe today, the Nittany Lions were not welcomed with open arms by all the other conference members. Michigan, Michigan State, and Indiana voted against Penn State’s membership.
Penn State has won more conference championships in all sports than any other Big Ten school. The Nittany Lions are fourth overall nationally in that category behind Stanford, UCLA, and Southern California.
The three California schools have benefitted from women’s sports and emerging sports that gained an early foothold in the West. Fifth on the conference championships’ list of all sports is Ivy League member Cornell which won many early collegiate championships.
In 2011, Nebraska joined the Big Ten fold. Football and the revenue that goes with it moved the Cornhuskers in the direction of the Big Ten.
Soon after Nebraska joined the Big Ten, Maryland and Rutgers joined to unofficially make it the Big 14. With the addition of UCLA and Southern California in 2023 the membership number will be at 16.
All manner of thinking comes into play with the shift in conference affiliations and alliances.
What becomes of schools such as Oregon State and Washington State, the less fancied football programs, if the Pac-12 disintegrates further? We can see present Pac-12 schools such as Utah and Colorado landing on their feet, however, it may not be said for every school.
With UCLA and Southern California becoming Big Ten teams, could the Rose Bowl feature two California schools in the Rose Bowl, granddaddy of all bowl games? One suspects that will not happen because the college football playoffs will expand and take on different forms.
Football and men’s basketball are the movers and shakers of the collegiate sports scene. When all goes well, those two sports are a financial plus, and can give strong backing to the athletic departments.