By Woodrow Carroll
With conference alignment expansion centered around major college football in the news, a look back is relevant.
In 1947, the University of Illinois defeated UCLA, 45-14, in the Rose Bowl. The game was a shocker because UCLA went into the game as the favorite. It was the start of a great run for the Big Ten Conference which won 12 of 13 Rose Bowls, 1947-1959.
In 1947 the Big Ten was composed of nine members. The University of Chicago, an original Big Ten stalwart and producer of first Heisman Trophy winner, Jay Berwanger, in 1935, was gone from the Big Ten by the 1940 season.
The UCLA Bruins, Illinois’ foe in the 1947 Rose Bowl, was a member of the eight-team Pacific Coast Conference. Both Illinois and UCLA have not lost a conference foe since 1940. The real change bas been both the addition of conference members and divisional play.
In the intervening years since 1947, the Big Ten has added Michigan State, Penn State, Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers to its membership to provide for 14 members. The Pacific Coast Conference has morphed into the Pac-12 and features the addition of Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado. Simply stated, every team Illinois or UCLA could have played in 1946 or 1947 as a conference foe is still there. The big difference is the pool of conference foes is much greater with divisional play as part of the scheduling.
• Recent gridiron news has Texas and Oklahoma possibly leaving the Big 12 and moving to the Southeastern Conference (SEC). No sooner was the eminent departure of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC tossed about in the media than a feeding frenzy as to how other members of the Big 12 would react.
A Big 10 program, of 14 member schools, could bring expansion. Kansas and Iowa State are being bandied about as future members of the Big Ten. With numerical balance in mind, few envision just one team invited to join the Big Ten. It is likely it would be a package deal.
Would eastern members in Penn State and Maryland be in favor of the addition of western- leaning schools such as Kansas and Iowa State? Or, would West Virginia be more to Penn State’s liking?
If the Big Ten adds two members, how would divisional play shake out?
Factor in Kansas and Iowa State as members of the Big Ten West and by all odds Purdue would move from the West Division to the East Division.
In 2016, the Big Ten went from having eight conference games on the schedule to nine conference foes. The thinking was that the additional conference game might give a more accurate reading as to which team was the best. So far, little really has been proven in that area by playing one more conference game.
Collateral damage? A number of schools such as Kansas and Iowa State should land on their feet regardless of where the programs end up. We might ask about the futures of schools such as Oklahoma States and Kansas States. There are schools with less bargaining power and may have to scramble in search of a conference if the Big 12 disbands.
Does the SEC need Texas or Oklahoma? Already the Lone Star State has Texas A&M as a conference member in good standing in the SEC. The SEC has been king of the hill in college football for several decades. New markets for the Conference is always a plus, for sure. Yet, the SEC has fared well as constructed.