Big Eight Conference football

The Big Eight Conference is a defunct college athletic conference that was formerly affiliated with the NCAA's Division I-A (now known as FBS).

The Big Eight Conference was a successful football conference, with its member schools being recognized as consensus national champion on eleven occasions, including the last two football seasons the conference existed (1994 and 1995). Seven players from the Big Eight won the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious national award for college football players.

Membership timeline

History

The conference was formed in 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) by five charter schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska, University of Iowa, and Washington University in St. Louis. After the MVIAA grew to ten schools, six state schools split away on their own in 1928, becoming known as the "Big Six": Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. The University of Colorado was added in 1948, and the conference became known as the "Big Seven Conference". Oklahoma State joined in 1958, becoming the eighth and final member. The conference broke up when its members joined the Big 12 Conference in 1996.

Due to its common history with the Missouri Valley Conference, Big Eight championships from 1907 through 1927 are also claimed by the MVC.

Bowl games

The first Big Eight conference team to attend a bowl game was Missouri, at the 1924 Los Angeles Christmas Festival. Following the 1938 season Oklahoma became the second to attend a bowl game, at the fifth-annual Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. In 1951 and 1952 the conference had a brief ban on its members attending bowl games. When the conference resumed accepting invitations in 1953, its champion regularly thereafter attended the Orange Bowl. This tradition was broken only five times: 1964 (when Nebraska faced #2 Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl); 1966 (when Nebraska faced #3 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl); 1973 and 1974 (when undefeated Oklahoma was on probation and barred from bowl games); and 1995 (when #1 Nebraska played in the Bowl Alliance championship vs. #2 Florida at the Fiesta Bowl).

At the 1979 Orange Bowl, #6 Nebraska and #4 Oklahoma were paired against each other in a rematch of their conference game earlier in the season.

Rankings

In the 1971 NCAA University Division football season, Big Eight teams finished ranked #1 (Nebraska), #2 (Oklahoma) and #3 (Colorado) in the nation in the AP Poll – the only time in college football history teams from one conference have held the top three spots in the final poll. In the final AP Poll issued before the Big Eight became the Big 12, half of the conference's teams were ranked in the nation's top 10 (#1 Nebraska, #5 Colorado, #7 Kansas State, #9 Kansas).

Rivalries

The Nebraska–Oklahoma football rivalry was one of the most significant in the nation, with national title implications involved during many seasons. The 1971 Nebraska vs. Oklahoma football game is commonly referred to as "The Game of the Century."

With common histories dating back even before the 1907 formation of the conference, many of the Big Eight's rivalries were among the most-played in college football. At the time the Big Eight Conference dissolved in 1996, the conference had the two longest uninterrupted series in Division I-A football: Kansas–Oklahoma (played annually since 1903) and Kansas–Nebraska (played annually since 1906). Many of the conference's series began in the 19th century, including:

• Kansas–Missouri, first played in 1891 (second-most played series in Division I-A in 1996)
• Nebraska–Kansas, first played in 1892
• Nebraska–Missouri, first played in 1892
• Missouri–Iowa State, first played in 1896
• Nebraska–Iowa State, first played in 1896
• Kansas–Iowa State, first played in 1898

All of the above series except Kansas-Iowa State have been inactive since at least 2012 due to conference realignment.

Champions

Conference champions

Following are the MVIAA/Big Eight football conference champions from 1907 to 1995 (shared championship years are shown in italics):

Football conference championships (1907–1995)
School	Total titles	Outright titles	Years
Colorado	5	3	1961 · 1976 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991
Drake	0	0
Grinnell	0	0
Iowa	1	0	1907
Iowa State	2	0	1911 · 1912
Kansas	5	2	1908 · 1930 · 1946 · 1947 · 1968
Kansas State	1	1	1934
Missouri	12	10	1909 · 1913 · 1919 · 1924 · 1925 · 1927 · 1939 · 1941 · 1942 · 1945 · 1960† · 1969
Nebraska	41	31	1907 · 1910 · 1911 · 1912 · 1913 · 1914 · 1915 · 1916 · 1917 · 1921 · 1922 · 1923 · 1928 · 1929 · 1931 · 1932 · 1933 · 1935 · 1936 · 1937 · 1940 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972‡ · 1975 · 1978 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1988 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995
Oklahoma	34	26	1920 · 1933 · 1938 · 1943 · 1944 · 1946 · 1947 · 1948 · 1949 · 1950 · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 · 1962 1967 · 1968 · 1972‡ · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987
Oklahoma State	2	1	1926 · 1976
Washington (St. Louis)	0	0

^† Kansas would have won the 1960 title, but after found to be using an ineligible player they were forced to forfeit their victories over Missouri and Colorado, which meant that Missouri was awarded the 1960 Big Eight title.
^‡ Oklahoma initially won the 1972 title, but after it was found that they used ineligible players, they were penalized by the NCAA, though they did not force OU to forfeit games. The Big Eight asked them to forfeit three games and awarded the title to Nebraska, but Oklahoma still claims these wins and this title.

National championships

Big Eight football teams were recognized as national champion on eleven occasions, including four times as back-to-back champions:

• 1950 – Oklahoma
• 1955 – Oklahoma
• 1956 – Oklahoma
• 1970 – Nebraska (AP; UPI coaches conducted final poll prior to bowl games and awarded championship to Texas)
• 1971 – Nebraska
• 1974 – Oklahoma (AP; ineligible for UPI coaches poll championship due to NCAA probation. USC named champion of coaches poll)
• 1975 – Oklahoma
• 1985 – Oklahoma
• 1990 – Colorado (AP; UPI coaches poll championship awarded to Georgia Tech)
• 1994 – Nebraska
• 1995 – Nebraska

Accolades

The Big Seven Conference established a Coach of the Year award in 1948. The conference began awarding a Player of the Year award in 1967, and began giving separate offensive and defensive awards in 1971. The final awards were given after the 1995 season, after which all of the Big Eight schools entered the Big 12 Conference.

Conference Coach of the Year

• 1948: Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma
• 1949: Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma†
• 1950: Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma†
• 1951: Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma†
• 1952: Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma†
• 1953: Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma†
• 1954: Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma†
• 1955: Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma†
• 1956: Dallas Ward, Colorado
• 1957: Chuck Mather, Kansas
• 1958: Dan Devine, Missouri
• 1959: Clay Stapleton, Iowa State
• 1960: Dan Devine, Missouri†
• 1961: Sonny Grandelius, Colorado
• 1962: Bob Devaney, Nebraska
• 1963: Bob Devaney, Nebraska†
• 1964: Bob Devaney, Nebraska†
• 1965: Eddie Crowder, Colorado
• 1966: Jim Mackenzie, Oklahoma
• 1967: Chuck Fairbanks, Oklahoma
• 1968: Pepper Rodgers, Kansas & Dan Devine, Missouri†
• 1969: Floyd Gass, Oklahoma State
• 1970: Bob Devaney, Nebraska†
• 1971: Johnny Majors, Iowa State
• 1972: Al Onofrio, Missouri
• 1973: Tom Osborne, Nebraska (AP) & Barry Switzer, Oklahoma (?)
• 1974: Barry Switzer, Oklahoma†
• 1975: Bud Moore, Kansas (AP) & Tom Osborne, Nebraska (?)†
• 1976: Earle Bruce, Iowa State (AP)
• 1977: Earle Bruce, Iowa State
• 1978: Tom Osborne, Nebraska†
• 1979: Jimmy Johnson, Oklahoma State
• 1980: Tom Osborne, Nebraska (AP)†
• 1981: Don Fambrough, Kansas
• 1982: Jim Dickey, Kansas State
• 1983: Warren Powers, Missouri (AP) & Tom Osborne, Nebraska (Coaches)†
• 1984: Mike Gottfried, Kansas
• 1985: Bill McCartney, Colorado
• 1986: Barry Switzer, Oklahoma†
• 1987: Barry Switzer, Oklahoma†
• 1988: Tom Osborne, Nebraska†
• 1989: Bill McCartney, Colorado†
• 1990: Bill Snyder, Kansas State (AP) & Bill McCartney, Colorado (Coaches)†
• 1991: Bill Snyder, Kansas State (AP)† & Glen Mason, Kansas (?)
• 1992: Tom Osborne, Nebraska†
• 1993: Bill Snyder Kansas State (AP)† & Tom Osborne, Nebraska (Coaches)†
• 1994: Tom Osborne, Nebraska†
• 1995: Glen Mason, Kansas†

^† Repeat winner

Conference Players of the Year

• 1967: Granville Liggins, Oklahoma
• 1968: Steve Owens, Oklahoma
• 1969: Steve Owens, Oklahoma†
• 1970: Jerry Murtaugh, Nebraska
• 1971: Greg Pruitt, Oklahoma
• 1972 Offensive: George Amundson, Iowa State

1972 Defensive: Rich Glover, Nebraska

• 1973 Offensive: Joe Washington, Oklahoma

1973 Defensive: Lucious Selmon, Oklahoma

• 1974 Offensive: Joe Washington, Oklahoma†

1974 Defensive: Rod Shoate, Oklahoma

• 1975 Offensive: Nolan Cromwell, Kansas

1975 Defensive: Lee Roy Selmon, Oklahoma

• 1976 Offensive: Terry Miller, Oklahoma State

1976 Defensive: Clete Pillen, Nebraska

• 1977 Offensive: Terry Miller, Oklahoma State†

1977 Defensive: George Cumby, Oklahoma

• 1978 Offensive: Billy Sims, Oklahoma

1978 Defensive: John Corker, Oklahoma State

• 1979 Offensive: Billy Sims, Oklahoma†

1979 Defensive: George Cumby, Oklahoma†

• 1980 Offensive: Phil Bradley, Missouri

1980 Defensive: Derrie Nelson, Nebraska

• 1981 Offensive: Dave Rimington, Nebraska

1981 Defensive: Jeff Gaylord, Missouri

• 1982 Offensive: Mike Rozier, Nebraska

1982 Defensive: Rick Bryan, Oklahoma

• 1983 Offensive: Mike Rozier, Nebraska†

1983 Defensive: Rick Bryan, Oklahoma†

• 1984 Offensive: Danny Bradley, Oklahoma

1984 Defensive: Leslie O'Neal, Oklahoma State

• 1985 Offensive: Thurman Thomas, Oklahoma State

1985 Defensive: Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma

• 1986 Offensive: Jamelle Holloway, Oklahoma

1986 Defensive: Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma†

• 1987 Offensive: Thurman Thomas, Oklahoma State†

1987 Defensive: Danté Jones, Oklahoma

• 1988 Offensive: Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State

1988 Defensive: Broderick Thomas, Nebraska

• 1989 Offensive: Darian Hagan, Colorado (Tie)

1989 Offensive: Gerry Gdowski, Nebraska (Tie)

1989 Defensive: Alfred Williams, Colorado

• 1990 Offensive: Eric Bieniemy, Colorado

1990 Defensive: Alfred Williams, Colorado†

• 1991 Offensive: Tony Sands, Kansas

1991 Defensive: Joe Bowden, Oklahoma

• 1992 Offensive: Calvin Jones, Nebraska

1992 Defensive: Deon Figures, Colorado

• 1993 Offensive: Charles Johnson, Colorado

1993 Defensive: Trev Alberts, Nebraska

• 1994 Offensive: Rashaan Salaam, Colorado

1994 Defensive: Ed Stewart, Nebraska

• 1995 Offensive: Tommy Frazier, Nebraska

1995 Defensive: Tim Colston, Kansas State

^† Repeat winner

All-time all-conference team

After the final Big Eight season was completed in 1995, a panel of twelve longtime observers selected an all-time conference team:

Offense

Position	Player	Team	Years
QB	Lynn Dickey	KSU	1968–70
RB	Billy Sims	OU	1975–79
RB	Gale Sayers	KU	1962–64
TE	Keith Jackson	OU	1984–87
C	Dave Rimington	NU	1979–82
OL	Dean Steinkuhler	NU	1979–83
OL	Zach Wiegert	NU	1991–94
OL	Greg Roberts	OU	1975–78
OL	Joe Romig	CU	1959–61
KR	Barry Sanders	OSU	1986–88
K	Uwe von Schamann	OU	1975–78

Defense

Position	Player	Team	Years
DL	Lee Roy Selmon	OU	1972–75
DL	Rich Glover	NU	1970–72
DL	Leslie O'Neal	OSU	1982–85
DL	Willie Harper	NU	1970–72
LB	Brian Bosworth	OU	1983–86
LB	Gary Spani	KSU	1974–77
LB	Rod Shoate	OU	1972–74
DB	Johnny Roland	MU	1962–65
DB	Roger Wehrli	MU	1966–68
DB	Randy Hughes	OU	1971–74
DB	Rickey Dixon	OU	1984–87
P	Barry Helton	CU	1984–87

Heisman Trophy winners

Seven players from the Big Eight won the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious national award for college football players:

• 1952: Billy Vessels (HB), Oklahoma
• 1969: Steve Owens (FB), Oklahoma
• 1972: Johnny Rodgers (WR/RB), Nebraska
• 1978: Billy Sims (RB), Oklahoma
• 1983: Mike Rozier (RB), Nebraska
• 1988: Barry Sanders (RB), Oklahoma State
• 1994: Rashaan Salaam (RB), Colorado

AFCA Coach of the Year

• 1949: Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma
• 1989: Bill McCartney, Colorado
• 1994: Tom Osborne, Nebraska

FWAA (Eddie Robinson) Coach of the Year

• 1971: Bob Devaney, Nebraska
• 1989: Bill McCartney, Colorado

References

General

• BigEightSports.com list of football champions

Specific