Northwestern’s 1896 football team came within an extra point of winning the first Western Conference, which became the Big Ten. Courtesy of University Archives.
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Birth of the Big Ten Conference
In the latter years of the 19th century, when many American colleges and universities began to establish formal sports programs, Northwestern President Henry Wade Rogers endorsed student athletics on many counts. However, Rogers thought that athletic activities should be regulated so that they did not interfere with studies or become an end in themselves.
"In the West," he noted, "college athletics have never been carried to the excess that has characterized the eastern institutions."
Early Athletic Regulation
In 1891, a University faculty committee formed to consider the conduct and control of athletics at Northwestern. The following year, the committee adopted rules forbidding competition with professional teams and requiring players to meet certain academic standards. Supervision was later tightened further with the appointment of a Committee on the Regulation of Athletic Sports, made up of three alumni and three undergraduates.
In 1895 Rogers joined the presidents of the universities of Chicago, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Purdue at a conference to consider the regulation of intercollegiate athletics.
This initial meetings produced what became known as the Presidents' Rules. The rules included the following: each college was to have a supervisory athletic committee; each contestant was to be a bona fide student of six months' residence; no coach or professional athlete could compete; and players could receive no payment for their participation.
The Big Ten Conference
A year later, representatives of the seven universities met again to create a permanent faculty organization to supervise sports among the group. Named the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, this board was subsequently enlarged and became The Big Ten Conference.
In 1899 Indiana University and the University of Iowa accepted invitations to membership, and Ohio State University became the 10th member in 1912. The University of Chicago withdrew in 1946 and was replaced three years later by Michigan State University.
In 1952 the conference created the Council of Ten composed of the presidents of each institution. The council was empowered to appoint the conference commissioner and to approve the annual budget of the office. Faculty representatives and athletic directors then controlled the rules and regulations.
A Call to Withdraw
Throughout the twentieth century, Northwestern's performance in athletics (including tennis, swimming, track, wrestling, golf and fencing) garnered several championship. The fortunes of the football team, though, slumped to a point in 1955 at which the Daily Northwestern demanded the University withdraw from the Big Ten. Only six years after a triumphant Rose Bowl win over California-Berkeley, the team had fallen to last place.
President J. Roscoe Miller rejected the idea of withdrawal, however, emphasizing the benefits of student athletics to the undergraduate experience. Further, he felt that withdrawal from the conference -- of which Northwestern had been a founding member -- would jeopardize alumni and student support. In any case, Miller saw no other group comparable to The Big Ten in prestige, competition, and tradition.
Today, the tradition of the conference endures. It continues to be known as The Big Ten despite growing to 11 schools with the addition of Penn State University in 1990. The conference now sponsors 25 annual championships: 12 for men and 13 for women. From its headquarters near Chicago, it manages television events and the Big Ten television network, provides legislative and compliance services, oversees championships and tournaments, and services hundreds of coaching and administrative personnel.