A new BGSU sports website!!

[TG1996]

How in the 1950's BG in football could compete for the national title but can't anymore. Does anyone really know how the landscape changed that much that teams like us can't hope of reaching that goal anymore?

It was the "college division" national championship, so kind of like I-AA, I guess, but its a national championship in the record books, so we'll take it! (And as a side note, we were a loss to Ohio U. the next year away from winning it back to back!)

[Schadenfreude]

How in the 1950's BG in football could compete for the national title but can't anymore. Does anyone really know how the landscape changed that much that teams like us can't hope of reaching that goal anymore?

It was the "college division" national championship, so kind of like I-AA, I guess,

College division was more like a combination of Divisions II and III, I think.

I *think* when the NCAA reorganized in the early 1970s, university division essentially became Division I. College division was split into II and III depending on whether scholarships were offered.

A little later, Division I was split into I-A and I-AA, primarily based on attendance.

[transfer2BGSU]

How in the 1950's BG in football could compete for the national title but can't anymore. Does anyone really know how the landscape changed that much that teams like us can't hope of reaching that goal anymore?

Falconboy, you are showing your youth...

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was an organization called the NCAA. The NCAA was in control (as best as they could be) of college athletics.

Then in September 1981,a federal court ruled that the 1982-85 NCAA Football Television Plan, which spelled out the regulations governing NCAA member institutions' appearances on television during the regular season, violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. The NCAA appealed the decision, but the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately agreed with the lower court.

http://www.ncaa.org/news/1999/19991220/ ... 26n24.html

After that ruling, certain conferences began to tout themselves as being bigger than the NCAA and that is how we wound up with the BCS 6 and no national championship for Division I-A football.

[Class of 61]

How in the 1950's BG in football could compete for the national title but can't anymore. Does anyone really know how the landscape changed that much that teams like us can't hope of reaching that goal anymore?

Because, Falconboy, BG was then considered in the "small college" division, now probably thought of as I-AA. When we won the National Championship in 1959, one of our BIGGEST wins was against Delaware, that came into the game ranked #1 in country with us at #2. We beat them handily (30-7 I believe) and went on to be the #1 "small college" team in the country. I still believe to this day that this team could've taken OSU that year as they were nothing special, but that is the answer to your question.

[Falconboy]

the OSU's and Michigan were considered Div. 1 back even back then? Thats interesting. When did we officially become Div.1-A? How did this "Big School" touting start only with football, how come basketball did not get affected?

[TG1996]

the OSU's and Michigan were considered Div. 1 back even back then? Thats interesting. When did we officially become Div.1-A? How did this "Big School" touting start only with football, how come basketball did not get affected?

Best I can tell, "1-A" officially came about in 1978, though we were I-AA for the 1982 season. But that's just by the NCAA's definition. I think we went 1-A in 1961 as part of what was called the "University Division", or "major colleges". But that's just what I got from here: http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia ... /index.php

...some of the guys around here that were at BG around that time might be able to explain it more.

[Schadenfreude]

the OSU's and Michigan were considered Div. 1 back even back then? Thats interesting. When did we officially become Div.1-A? How did this "Big School" touting start only with football, how come basketball did not get affected?

We moved up -- along with the rest of the MAC -- from small college to university division in 1961. Not sure what the criteria was. It might have been as simple as what the sportswriters considered to be big time.

The lines don't appear to have been very clean. You mention basketball. Good point. MAC hoops has been good for as long as there has been a MAC. Back when the NIT had parity with the NCAA tournament, Bowling Green, Toledo and Ohio all went on deep, deep NIT runs.

Another interesting fact: Miami was nationally-ranked in 1955 -- right along with the Michigans and Ohio States -- even though they were college division. (Can anyone imagine Youngstown State or Southern Illinois breaking the AP Top 25 today?)

But it is clear the MAC was pretty much ready for university division when it got there.

In 1950, it was still tough to distinguish MAC football from, say, the OAC. Baldwin-Wallace was still a big rival for Bowling Green, second only to Toledo.

By 1960, Bowling Green stopped playing B-W because the games were getting out of hand. BG won the '59 small college title. Ohio won in '60. It was time to move up.

College division/university division was still the way the NCAA looked at things until 1973, when it reorganized into Division I, II and III.

In 1978, the NCAA split Division I into -A, -AA and -AAA (the latter for Division I universities without football programs).

Some conferences went to I-AA willingly. Others -- the Missouri Valley is an example -- did not, but were forced down when they couldn't meet attendance requirements by around '81 or '82.

The MAC started out I-A. It went down to I-AA for one year, in 1982, because it failed to meet attendance requirements.

The NCAA let the Falcons play in the California Bowl anyway, and the MAC basically ignored the fact that it had three teams ranked in the I-AA Top 25, that it had I-AA all-Americans, etc.

Attendance was good in 1982, and the MAC has been I-A ever since.

[Lord_Byron]

Schad, this is why I have your picture in my locker!!

In the early '80s, when we were trying to make the attendance numbers to move back to 1A, all Falcon Club members received football season tickets with their membership. We then donated them back to the university so they could use them to offer tickets to school groups, etc.

I remember in 1976, then president Hollis Moore came to a residence hall meeting in Anderson Hall. The subject of div-1A/AA came up, and Hollis was adamant that we were going to play at the highest level. He was a pretty big supporter of athletics and the MAC.

[Schadenfreude]

Schad, this is why I have your picture in my locker!!

In the early '80s, when we were trying to make the attendance numbers to move back to 1A, all Falcon Club members received football season tickets with their membership. We then donated them back to the university so they could use them to offer tickets to school groups, etc.

I remember in 1976, then president Hollis Moore came to a residence hall meeting in Anderson Hall. The subject of div-1A/AA came up, and Hollis was adamant that we were going to play at the highest level. He was a pretty big supporter of athletics and the MAC.

I have your picture in my locker, too.

I didn't know any of this. The Falcon Club season ticket exchange, in particular, was a neat trick.

Good stuff.