John U. Bacon: Yost's Walkout

In this Michigan Today piece, John U. Bacon examines the history of Big Ten membership, focusing on when Amos Alonzo Stagg forced Fielding Yost's hand causing Michigan to leave the Big Ten in 1907.

Reform was all the rage in college football—and that's where Stagg saw his chance. As the de facto leader of the Big Ten, Stagg pushed for new rules governing recruiting, funding and eligibility—which Yost, probably to Stagg's surprise, readily agreed to—but Yost couldn't stomach the conference's proposals to reduce schedules from a robust eleven games to a measly five, restrict player eligibility to three years, and insist that football coaches be full-time faculty members. Stagg already was, Yost was not.

Yost knew if he complied with the new Big Ten regulations, his team would have little chance against the Eastern powers. To sacrifice that hard-won recognition galled Yost.

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When it came time for Michigan's Faculty Board in charge of Intercollegiate Athletics to vote, Yost urged them to refuse the conference proposals. They did, forcing Michigan to drop out of the Big Ten in 1907.

That's right: Michigan, the school most closely associated with Big Ten football, left the conference in a huff.

Michigan was an independent for ten years and during that time, it had to find new opponents to fill out its schedule as Stagg made sure a rule was passed that prohibited Big Ten schools from scheduling games with schools that had left the conference (i.e., Michigan).  It was during this period that Michigan began its most important rivalries: Ohio State, Notre Dame and MSU.

Michigan...had to resort to filling the schedule with independent schools like Notre Dame twice, and Ohio State, which was not yet in the Big Ten, for the first six of those years. Another independent, the Michigan State Spartans—then called the Michigan Agricultural College Farmers—appeared on Michigan's schedule for just the third time in 1907, and have continued to do so all but four seasons since.

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So, whenever a commentator remarks that Michigan is the nation's only team with three great rivalries, Wolverine fans should thank Amos Alonzo Stagg, who made it all possible—however unwittingly.

Ladies and gentleman, the inimitable John U. Bacon delivers the goods once more.