The Big Eight Conference is a defunct college athletic conference that was formerly affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-A (now known as FBS). The Big Eight 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.
Player of the Year Season Player Team 1967 Granville Liggins NT Oklahoma 1968 Steve Owens RB Oklahoma 1969 Steve Owens (2) RB Oklahoma 1970 Jerry Murtaugh LB Nebraska 1971 Greg Pruitt RB Oklahoma
Offensive Player of the Year Season Player Team 1972 George Amundson QB Iowa State 1973 Joe Washington RB Oklahoma 1975 Joe Washington (2) RB Oklahoma 1975 Nolan Cromwell QB Kansas 1976 Terry Miller RB Oklahoma State 1977 Terry Miller (2) RB Oklahoma State 1978 Billy Sims RB Oklahoma 1979 Billy Sims (2) RB Oklahoma 1980 Phil Bradley QB Missouri 1981 Dave Rimington C Nebraska 1982 Mike Rozier RB Nebraska 1983 Mike Rozier (2) RB Nebraska 1984 Danny Bradley QB Oklahoma 1985 Thurman Thomas RB Oklahoma State 1986 Jamelle Holieway QB Oklahoma 1987 Thurman Thomas (2) RB Oklahoma State 1988 Barry Sanders RB Oklahoma State 1989 Darian Hagan QB Colorado Gerry Gdowski QB Nebraska 1990 Eric Bieniemy RB Colorado 1991 Tony Sands RB Kansas 1992 Calvin Jones RB Nebraska 1993 Charles Johnson WR Colorado 1994 Rashaan Salaam RB Colorado 1995 Tommie Frazier QB Nebraska
Defensive Player of the Year Season Player Team 1972 Rich Glover DT Nebraska 1973 Lucious Selmon NT Oklahoma 1974 Rod Shoate LB Oklahoma 1975 Lee Roy Selmon DT Oklahoma 1976 Clete Pillen DE Nebraska 1977 George Cumby LB Oklahoma 1978 John Corker LB Oklahoma State 1979 George Cumby (2) LB Oklahoma 1980 Derrie Nelson DE Nebraska 1981 Jeff Gaylord LB Missouri 1982 Rick Bryan DE Oklahoma 1983 Rick Bryan (2) DE Oklahoma 1984 Leslie O'Neal DT Oklahoma State 1985 Brian Bosworth LB Oklahoma 1986 Brian Bosworth (2) LB Oklahoma 1987 Dante Jones LB Oklahoma 1988 Broderick Thomas LB Nebraska 1989 Alfred Williams LB Colorado 1990 Alfred Williams (2) LB Colorado 1991 Joe Bowden LB Oklahoma 1992 Deon Figures CB Colorado 1993 Trev Alberts LB Nebraska 1994 Ed Stewart LB Nebraska 1995 Tim Colston DT Kansas State
Coach of the Year Season Coach Team 1948 Bud Wilkinson Oklahoma 1949 Bud Wilkinson (2) Oklahoma 1950 Bud Wilkinson (3) Oklahoma 1951 Bud Wilkinson (4) Oklahoma 1952 Bud Wilkinson (5) Oklahoma 1953 Bud Wilkinson (6) Oklahoma 1954 Bud Wilkinson (7) Oklahoma 1955 Bud Wilkinson (8) Oklahoma 1956 Dallas Ward Colorado 1957 Chuck Mather Kansas 1958 Dan Devine Missouri 1959 Clay Stapleton Iowa State 1960 Dan Devine (2) Missouri 1961 Sonny Grandelius Colorado 1962 Bob Devaney Nebraska 1963 Bob Devaney (2) Nebraska 1964 Bob Devaney (3) Nebraska 1965 Eddie Crowder Colorado 1966 Jim Mackenzie Oklahoma 1967 Chuck Fairbanks Oklahoma 1968 Pepper Rodgers Kansas Dan Devine (3) Missouri 1969 Floyd Gass Oklahoma State 1970 Bob Devaney (4) Nebraska 1971 Johnny Majors Iowa State 1972 Al Onofrio Missouri 1973 Tom Osborne Nebraska Barry Switzer Oklahoma 1974 Barry Switzer (2) Oklahoma 1975 Bud Moore Kansas Tom Osborne (2) Nebraska 1976 Earle Bruce Iowa State 1977 Earle Bruce (2) Iowa State 1978 Tom Osborne (3) Nebraska 1979 Jimmy Johnson Oklahoma State 1980 Tom Osborne (4) Nebraska 1981 Don Fambrough Kansas 1982 Jim Dickey Kansas State 1983 Warren Powers Missouri Tom Osborne (5) Nebraska 1984 Mike Gottfried Kansas 1985 Bill McCartney Colorado 1986 Barry Switzer (3) Oklahoma 1987 Barry Switzer (4) Oklahoma 1988 Tom Osborne (6) Nebraska 1989 Bill McCartney (2) Colorado 1990 Bill Snyder Kansas State Bill McCartney (3) Colorado 1991 Bill Snyder (2) Kansas State Glen Mason Kansas 1992 Tom Osborne (7) Nebraska 1993 Bill Snyder (3) Kansas State Tom Osborne (8) Nebraska 1994 Tom Osborne (9) Nebraska 1995 Glen Mason (2) Kansas
All-Time Team
After the final Big Eight season was completed in 1995, a panel of twelve longtime observers selected an all-time conference team: Position Player Team Tenure Offense QB Lynn Dickey Kansas State 1968–1970 RB Billy Sims Oklahoma 1975–1979 Gale Sayers Kansas 1962–1964 WR Hart Lee Dykes Oklahoma State 1985–1988 Johnny Rodgers Nebraska 1970–1972 TE Keith Jackson Oklahoma 1984–1987 OL Dean Steinkuhler Nebraska 1979–1983 Zach Wiegert Nebraska 1991–1994 Greg Roberts Oklahoma 1975–1978 Joe Romig Colorado 1959–1961 C Dave Rimington Nebraska 1979–1982 Defense DL Lee Roy Selmon Oklahoma 1972–1975 Rich Glover Nebraska 1970–1972 Leslie O'Neal Oklahoma State 1982–1985 Willie Harper Nebraska 1970–1972 LB Brian Bosworth Oklahoma 1983–1986 Gary Spani Kansas State 1974–1977 Rod Shoate Oklahoma 1972–1974 CB Johnny Roland Missouri 1962–1965 Roger Wehrli Missouri 1966–1968 S Randy Hughes Oklahoma 1971–1974 Rickey Dixon Oklahoma 1984–1987 Special Teams K Uwe von Schamann Oklahoma 1975–1978 P Barry Helton Colorado 1984–1987 RS Barry Sanders Oklahoma State 1986–1988
Heisman Trophy winners
Seven players from the Big Eight won the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious national award for college football players: Season Player Team 1952 Billy Vessels HB Oklahoma 1969 Steve Owens RB Oklahoma 1972 Johnny Rodgers WR 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
Season Coach Team 1949 Bud Wilkinson Oklahoma 1989 Bill McCartney Colorado 1994 Tom Osborne Nebraska
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year
Season Coach Team 1971 Bob Devaney Nebraska 1989 Bill McCartney Colorado
References General BigEightSports.com list of football champions
Specific