Today we take a look at the conference reforms that led Michigan to leave the Big Ten in the early 1900s. But while we were an Independent, we managed to schedule Minnesota. And thank goodness we did - those non-conference match-ups with the Gophers launched the Little Brown Jug rivalry. Michigan returned to the conference in 1917 and it didn't take long to return to our winning ways. Go Blue!
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Michigan’s Rocky Start in the Big Ten (1896-1917) | This Week in Michigan Football History
November 20, 1917 marks the official anniversary of The University of Michigan rejoining the Western Conference, and in doing so, gave it the new nickname of 'The Big 10'. Here's the short version of our rocky first two decades with our conference affiliation. The segment airs LIVE on the WTKA 1050AM Keybank Countdown to Kickoff on November 20, 2021.
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The Life and Career of Fielding H. Yost
A video of my complete guest lecture at U-M course EDUC 212: The History of Intercollegiate Athletics. The topic is the career of Fielding H. Yost. In Part I we cover his early life and coaching career before Michigan, and just into his first season in Ann Arbor. Part II gets into his coaching and AD career, and legacy.
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Yost plays his BFF after leaving B1G – This Week in Michigan Football History
A decade after being a founding member of the Western Conference, Michigan up and left to go independent. Now it had to find someone to play. On this Saturday 112 years ago, that someone was the Vanderbilt Commodores, coached by Yost's former player, brother-in-law, neighbor and all-around BFF.
