Watching the Premier League Club Guide on NBC Sports this morning, with all its stress on the age and tradition of England's top professional football teams, made me think about the age and tradition of America's college football teams in the 2013 Rump Big East (now known as the American Athletic Conference) and the 2013 Big Ten and what the move of the oldest school in either conference from one to the other will do to the average ages of both. Here are the results of some quick internet historical research about the dates each of these schools was founded.
AMERICAN |
|
B1G |
|
UCF |
1963 |
|
Illinois |
1867 |
Cincinnati |
1819 |
|
Indiana |
1820 |
UConn |
1881 |
|
Iowa |
1847 |
Houston |
1927 |
|
Michigan |
1817 |
Louisville |
1798 |
|
MSU |
1855 |
Memphis |
1912 |
|
Minnesota |
1851 |
Rutgers |
1766 |
|
Nebraska |
1869 |
USF |
1956 |
|
Northwestern |
1851 |
SMU |
1911 |
|
Ohio State |
1870 |
Temple |
1884 |
|
Penn State |
1855 |
2013 Average |
1881.7 |
|
Purdue |
1869 |
|
|
|
Wisconsin |
1848 |
|
|
|
2013 Average |
1851.583 |
There's already an average 30 year difference in the Big Ten's favor even with the 1766 Scarlet Knights in the Rump Big East, but look what happens when Rutgers and Louisville check out next year and the difference extends to 50 years.
UCF |
1963 |
|
Illinois |
1867 |
Cincinnati |
1819 |
|
Indiana |
1820 |
UConn |
1881 |
|
Iowa |
1847 |
East Carolina |
1907 |
|
Maryland |
1856 |
Houston |
1927 |
|
Michigan |
1817 |
Memphis |
1912 |
|
MSU |
1855 |
USF |
1956 |
|
Minnesota |
1851 |
SMU |
1911 |
|
Nebraska |
1869 |
Temple |
1884 |
|
Northwestern |
1851 |
Tulane |
1834 |
|
Ohio State |
1870 |
Tulsa |
1894 |
|
Penn State |
1855 |
2014 Average |
1898.90909 |
|
Purdue |
1869 |
|
|
|
Rutgers |
1766 |
|
|
|
Wisconsin |
1848 |
|
|
|
2014 Average |
1845.786 |
The Big Ten will become 6 years older with the addition of 1766 Rutgers and 1856 Maryland, but the American Athletic Conference (if it's still calling itself that in 2014) will have become 17 years younger and only the addition of Tulane will keep the conference's average age just barely in the 19th century. Only two of the AAC's 2014 members will have been founded before Rutgers was already playing football in 1869.
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