Sunday, August 11, 2013

Conference Age and Tradition

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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