SMQ: A brief history of conference affiliation in college football
By Zach Bigalke
The rise of the Western Conference
The first conference with real staying power was the Western Conference, which evolved into what we today know as the Big Ten. Its roots stem from the short-lived Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest. In 1892 and 1893, four Midwestern teams formed the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest. Minnesota won the title in both years ahead of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Northwestern.
A few years later, representatives of those four schools along with Purdue, Illinois, and Chicago formed what was officially known as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives. Colloquially it would first come to be known as the Western Conference, and after expansion in 1899 to include Indiana and Iowa it was also the Big Nine.
After World War II, the Western Conference emerged stronger than ever. In 1946, the conference inked a deal with the Rose Bowl to send its conference champion annually to the nation’s oldest bowl game. Then, three years later, the league once again became the Big Ten after the belated addition of Michigan State to replace the University of Chicago. The Spartans joined the league a decade after Chicago disbanded its football program.
Early-adopter status was good for the members of the Big Ten who got into the conference affiliation game ahead of much of the rest of the country. The Western Conference’s example set the stage for more confident departures from independence.