Southwest Conference
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Southwest Conference | |
|---|---|
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| Data | |
| Classification | NCAA Division I FBS |
| Established | 1914 |
| Dissolved | 1996 |
| Members (1919) | 8 |
| Members (1991) | 9 |
| Region | South Central United States |
| States | 3 - Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas |
| Locations | |
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The Southwest Conference (SWC) was a college athletic conference in the United States that became defunct in May of 1996. It consisted of schools in the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
Established in 1914, its charter members were the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Baylor University, the University of Arkansas, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma A&M University (currently Oklahoma State), Southwestern University (in Georgetown, Texas), and Rice University.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
The first organizational meeting of the conference was held in May, 1914 at the Oriental Hotel in Dallas, Texas. It was chaired by L. Theo Bellmont, who originated the idea for the athletic conference and was at the time athletic director at the University of Texas. Originally, Bellmont wanted Louisiana State University and the University of Mississippi to join the conference as well, but they declined to do so. The Southwest Conference became an official body on December 8, 1914 at a formal meeting at the Rice Hotel in Houston.
Its early years saw fluctuation in membership; Southwestern (a comparatively smaller school) dropped out of the conference in 1916, and Southern Methodist University joined it in 1918; Texas Christian University became a member in 1923. Rice University left the conference in 1916, only to re-join in 1918.
Phillips University (Enid, Oklahoma) was a conference member for one year (1920). Oklahoma left in 1919 to join the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and was followed by Oklahoma A&M in 1925. (However, the intense football rivalry between the universities of Texas and Oklahoma would continue in an annual matchup between the two teams held in Dallas.)
After its organizational years, the conference settled into regularly scheduled meets among its members, and began to gain stature nationwide. The SWC would be guided by seven commissioners, the first of whom, P. W. St. Clair, was appointed in 1938. In 1940, an agreement was reached that the winner of the conference football title would play in the Cotton Bowl, which further established the prestige of both the bowl and the conference. Texas Tech University joined the SWC in 1958, followed by the University of Houston for the 1976 season (UH won the SWC football championship in that 1976 season).
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The conference's primary weakness was its geographic focus on the state of Texas.[citation needed] Eight of the conference's nine universities were located within Texas. This narrow focus limited the conference's national appeal even though the quality of athletic competition usually was very high.[citation needed]
The conference celebrated its glory football years in the 1960s. Texas won the 1963 National Championship, Arkansas won the 1964 National Championship, then Texas took another National Championship in 1969, beating #2 ranked Arkansas (15 to 14) in the regular season's final game (dubbed the "Big Shootout"). The 1969 Arkansas-Texas game (attended in Fayetteville by President Richard Nixon) is considered by most[who?] to rank as the SWC's most significant game.
Beginning in the late 1930's and lasting until 1995, the Southwest Conference Champion automatically received an invitation as the "host" team in the Cotton Bowl game on New Year's Day in Dallas, Texas. Opponents usually were the runners-up from the Big 8 or SEC conference, although Independents Penn State and Notre Dame were also often featured. The bowl featured many outstanding and memorable games[citation needed] and often had national championship implications. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, the game declined in importance, largely because of the decline of SWC prominence. Notre Dame in 1977 was the last team to win their national championship in the Cotton Bowl.
The SWC had many legendary players and coaches over the years. In football, Dana X. Bible, Jess Neely, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Darrell Royal, James "Buddy" Parker, Hayden Fry, Frank Broyles, Lou Holtz, Gene Stallings, Spike Dykes, Bill Yeoman and Grant Teaff all served as head coaches in the conference. Some notable SWC players included Davey O'Brien, Sammy Baugh, Bobby Layne, Doak Walker, Tom Landry, Dickey Moegle, Jack Pardee, John David Crow, Jim Swink, Bob Lilly, Tommy Nobis, Jerry LeVias, James Street, Roosevelt Leaks, Donnie Trull, Donnie Anderson, Steve McMichael, Earl Campbell, Dan Hampton, Rick Fenlaw, Mike Singletary, Eric Dickerson, Andre Ware, Quentin Coryatt, Zach Thomas, Richmond Webb, James Francis, Ray Childress, Forrest Gregg, Ricky Williams, and Priest Holmes.
The early 1980s were the glory years of SWC basketball, especially the Phi Slama Jama teams at the University of Houston. Outstanding basketball coaches included Eddie Sutton, Guy V. Lewis, Nolan Richardson, Tom Penders, Abe Lemons, Shelby Metcalf and Gerald Myers. Great SWC hoops players included Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Vinnie Johnson, Jon Koncak, Joe Kleine, B.J. Tyler, Elvin Hayes and Todd Day.
SWC Baseball was dominated year-in-year-out by the Texas Longhorns, who under legendary coach Cliff Gustafson won national titles in 1975 and 1983. Roger Clemens is the most prominent SWC baseball alum.
[edit] Final years
The 1980s saw most of the conference's athletic programs hit by recruiting scandals and NCAA probations. The only programs to escape probation in the 1980s were Arkansas, Baylor, and Rice. Because of repeated major violations, the Southern Methodist University football program in 1987 became only the second program in NCAA history to receive the so-called "Death Penalty" (after Kentucky basketball in 1952-53). The NCAA forced SMU to disband its football program for the 1987 season, and limited it to seven road games for 1988; SMU chose not to play at all in 1988. At that time, NCAA rules prohibited schools on probation from appearing in televised games. As a result, the conference's market share in television coverage dwindled. The performance in the "money" sport of football declined also. The final 8 SWC Champions lost in their bowl game. The beginning of the end was when Arkansas announced it would leave for the Southeastern Conference in 1990, and the death blow came in 1993 when Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor accepted invitations to join the Big Eight Conference, creating the Big 12 Conference. In May of 1996, after the completions of championship matches in baseball and track & field, the Southwest Conference was officially dissolved.
Over the course of its 81-year history, teams of the Southwest Conference garnered sixty-four recognized national championships in collegiate sports (nine in football).
In 1997 the official records of the conference from 1914 to 1996 were moved from Dallas to the campus of Texas Tech University, becoming part of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. The archive also contains an extensive assortment of images and memorabilia from each member university.
[edit] Members
- Arkansas (1915-1991)
- Baylor (1915-1996)
- Houston (1971-1975 played but not eligible for football title, 1976-1996)
- Oklahoma (1915-1919)
- Oklahoma A&M (1915-1925)
- Phillips (1920-1920)
- Rice (1915-1917 provisional, 1918-1996)
- Southern Methodist (1918-1996)
- Southwestern (1915-1916)
- Texas (1915-1996)
- Texas A&M (1915-1996)
- TCU (1923-1996)
- Texas Tech (1956-1957 played but not eligible for football title, 1958-1996)
[edit] Where are they now?
| Team | Left For | Current Home |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | Southeastern Conference | |
| Baylor | Big 12 Conference | |
| Houston | Conference USA | |
| Rice | Western Athletic Conference | Conference USA |
| SMU | Western Athletic Conference | Conference USA |
| Texas | Big 12 Conference | |
| Texas A&M | Big 12 Conference | |
| TCU | Western Athletic Conference | Mountain West Conference * |
| Texas Tech | Big 12 Conference | |
* TCU left the WAC to join C-USA, then joined MWC.
[edit] Conference commissioners
- P.W. St. Clair (1938-45)
- James H. Stewart (1945-50)
- Howard Grubbs (1950-73)
- Cliff Speegle (1973-82)
- Fred Jacoby (1982-93)
- Steve Hatchell (1993-95)
- Kyle Kallander (1995-96)
[edit] Conference football champions
- Texas (27 titles, 21 outright): 1916, 1918, 1920, 1928, 1930, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1950, 1952, 1953*, 1959*, 1961*, 1962, 1963, 1968*, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975*, 1977, 1983, 1990, 1994*, 1995
- Texas A&M (17, 15): 1917, 1919, 1921, 1925, 1927, 1939, 1940*, 1941, 1956, 1967, 1975*, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993
- Arkansas (13, 7): 1936, 1946*, 1954, 1959*, 1960, 1961*, 1964, 1965, 1968*, 1975*, 1979*, 1988, 1989
- SMU (11, 9): 1923, 1926, 1931, 1935, 1940*, 1947, 1948, 1966, 1981, 1982, 1984*
- TCU (9, 7): 1929, 1932, 1938, 1944, 1951, 1955, 1958, 1959*, 1994*
- Rice (7, 4): 1934, 1937, 1946*, 1949, 1953*, 1957, 1994*
- Baylor (5, 4): 1922, 1924, 1974, 1980, 1994*
- Houston (4, 1): 1976*, 1978, 1979*, 1984*
- Texas Tech (2, 0): 1976*, 1994*
- Oklahoma (1, 1): 1915
"*" -- Denotes shared title
[edit] Conference men's basketball regular-season champions
- Arkansas (22 titles, 14 outright): 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1935*, 1936, 1938, 1941, 1942*, 1944*, 1949*, 1950*, 1958*, 1977, 1978*, 1979*, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1991
- Texas (22, 12): 1915, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1924, 1933, 1939, 1943*, 1947, 1951*, 1954*, 1960, 1963, 1965*, 1972*, 1974, 1978*, 1979*, 1986*, 1992*, 1994, 1995*
- SMU (13, 8): 1935*, 1937, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958*, 1962*, 1965*, 1966, 1967, 1972*, 1988, 1993
- Texas A&M (11, 9): 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1951*, 1964, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1986*
- TCU (10, 2): 1931, 1934, 1951*, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1968, 1971, 1986*, 1987
- Rice (10, 4): 1918, 1935*, 1940, 1942*, 1943*, 1944*, 1945, 1949*, 1954*, 1970
- Texas Tech (6, 4): 1961, 1962*, 1973, 1985, 1995*, 1996
- Baylor (5, 2): 1932, 1946, 1948, 1949*, 1950*
- Houston (3, 2): 1983, 1984, 1992*
- Oklahoma A&M (1): 1925
"*" -- Denotes shared title
[edit] Quote
President John F. Kennedy referenced Southwest Conference with the question, "Why does Rice play Texas?" in his September 12, 1962 "Moon Speech" delivered at Rice Stadium.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- Tips, Kern (1964). Football, Texas Style: An Illustrated History of the Southwest Conference. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co.
- Pennington, Richard (1987). Breaking the Ice: The Racial Integration of Southwest Conference Football. Jefferson, N.C.: MacFarland & Co. ISBN 0899502954.
