January 12, 1907: The Big Eight Conference Is Founded

January 12, 1907: The Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association is founded in Kansas City, Missouri. It eventually became known as the Big Eight Conference, or the Big 8.

The 5 original members were the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri, the University of Nebraska, Washington University of St. Louis, and the University of Iowa. Iowa only competed in the MVIAA for football and track, remaining in the league that would become the Big Ten Conference, and left the MVIAA entirely in 1911, leading to a split between Iowa and Iowa State that lasts to this day, and one between Iowa and neighboring Nebraska that lasted until 2011.

Iowa State University and Drake University of Des Moines, Iowa joined in 1908. Kansas State University joined in 1913. Grinnell College of Grinnell, Iowa was admitted in 1919, the University of Oklahoma in 1920, and Oklahoma State University (known as Oklahoma A&M until 1958) in 1925.

In 1928, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma left to form a new league. The remainders -- Drake, Grinnell, Oklahoma A&M and Washington University formed the Missouri Valley Conference. The 6 schools that left took on the MVIAA name, but began to informally call themselves the Big Six Conference. Both leagues traced their founding to the original MVIAA of 1907.

The University of Colorado was added in 1928, making the MVIAA a Big Seven. In 1957, Oklahoma State left the MVC and joined the MVIAA, making it the Big Eight. In 1964, the Big Eight name was made official.

From 1954 to 1995, the Orange Bowl in Miami usually invited the Big 8 football champion to participate. Of those 42 appearances: Oklahoma and Nebraska, the league's biggest football rivals, each made 15. In 1978, Nebraska beat Oklahoma in the regular season, then lost their last regular-season game, setting up a rematch in the Orange Bowl, which Oklahoma won.

Colorado appeared 5 times, Missouri 2, Kansas 1. Iowa State, Kansas State and Oklahoma State never made it. No Big 8 school appeared in the Orange Bowls of 1965, 1967, 1974 and 1975.

Kansas and Missouri, and to a lesser extent Kansas and Kansas State, would be heated rivals in basketball first, football second. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State would be college wrestling's greatest rivalry, but their "Bedlam" rivalry in football became heavily favored in OU's favor, and OU considers both Nebraska and Texas to be bigger rivals than OSU.

Iowa State also developed a great wrestling program, though not as great as Iowa, their Big 10 rivals. Kansas became, far and away, the league's greatest basketball program, and, to a lesser extent, in soccer; Oklahoma, its best in track & field; Oklahoma State, its best in baseball.

In the 1995-96 schoolyear, 4 schools from the Southwest Conference applied for, and received, membership to the Big 8: The University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor University of Waco, Texas. The 4 remaining SWC schools -- Texas Christian, Southern Methodist, Houston and its crosstown rival Rice -- joined other leagues.

Thus did 2 of the great college sports leagues, the Big 8 and the SWC, come to an end, but a better league, the Big Twelve Conference, was formed. The 4 Texas schools and the 2 Oklahoma schools formed the South Division, the other teams the North Division.

But that league did not hold: Nebraska went to the Big Ten, Colorado went to the Pac-10, and Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma all left for the Southeastern Conference. The Big 12 resembled the old Big 8, but little remains of that Great Plains collegiate sports tradition.

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January 12, 1907 was a Saturday. Baseball and football were out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. There were no hockey games on this day, but, a few days later, the Kenora Thistles would beat the Montreal Wanderers for the Stanley Cup.

English soccer played the 1st Round Proper of its Football Association (FA) Cup. Teams winning that day were Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Brentford, Bristol City, Burslem Port Vale, Bury, Crystal Palace (beating eventual League Champions Newcastle United in a big upset), Everton, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Millwall, Norwich City, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton Sunderland and West Ham United.

Playing to draws, and requiring a replay: Woolwich Arsenal, 1-1 away to Grimsby Town at Blundell Park, winning the replay 3-0; Accrington Stanley over Crewe Alexandra; Barnsley over Nottingham Forest; Blackburn Rovers over Manchester City; Bristol Rovers over Queens Park Rangers, Derby County needing a 2nd replay to defeat Chesterfield; Fulham over Stockport County, Lincoln City over Chelsea; Luton Town over Gainsborough Trinity; New Brompton needing a 2nd replay to defeat Burton United; Portsmouth over Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur needing a 2nd replay to defeat Hull City; and West Bromwich Albion over Stoke City.

Sheffield Wednesday would go on to win the Final over Everton.