A brief, thoroughly incomplete history of the Big Ten, courtesy of what happens to be available (and palatable) on YouTube...
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First some interest faux history, as the following footage is not actually of the famed Red Grange – for whom no clips seem to have been added, unfortunately – but struck me as a mildly hilarious impression, anyway, given the resources:
I’ve linked to this game before, but it’s so good: in the middle of Columbus’ worst blizzard in more than 40 years, Michigan came to play Ohio State with the Rose Bowl at stake in conditions so bad the game was instantly described – in 1950, now – as a "mockery" and "a nightmate" and probably should never have been played. But OSU didn’t want the conference title by default, so forward they went. Hands in the following clips – of the first and second quarters – were so numb, it was quickly determined that the offenses would run straight into the line twice, then punt on third down, because the risk of a fumble so far outweighed any conceivable gain through half a foot of snow. Michigan (dark helmets) punted on the first play, then hug on to win 9-3 in front of fifty-thousand people, probably hunchbacked, two-fingered who haunted factories and won the war, dammit, and didn’t see what all the fuss was about over a little snow. Better snow than Jap kamikazes!
Somebody has put up the original broadcast of the famous 1 vs. 2 "Game of the century" between Michigan State and Notre Dame in 1966 in seven parts, and hell if I’m in a position to do it, but just to keep this somewhat ruly (why? Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth), I’m only posting the last four, roughly covering the second half. Parts one, two and three are here, here and here. Of note: the color guy is Bud Wilkinson, and listen for the boos chastising Ara Parseghian’s decision to play it safe in the last clip:
A clip labelled "One of the greatest College Football upsets you’ve never heard of," Minnesota’s 1977 shutout of top-ranked Michigan in the pre-Metrodome days. Look very closely at the 4:20 mark for a classically great seventies jacket sleeve entering the frame to congratulate...Glen Mason?:
(Sample comment thread debate:
BigBlueBri(1 month ago)
Michigan lost because they thought they were playing USC.
huskiestud112 (2 weeks ago)
shut up big blue bri gophers kicked there ass)
Late era Woody Hayes: linebacker puncher, political gold:
I’ll admit, maybe it’s not fair to rep Indiana here by showing the Hoosiers getting their ass handed to them by Virginia Tech in the ‘93 Independence Bowl (hello, Hoosier fans: where are the Anthony Thompson vids?). But it’s as close as Indiana’s been to the postseason in the last 15 years – IU had actually been bowling six of the previous eight seasons at this point, back to 1986 – so take what you can get. Separated by half:
Season-opening upsets come no bigger or more shocking than Northwestern 17, Notre Dame 15, in South Bend in 1995, especially as a prelude to the most unlikely Cinderella season of the last 20 years. Watch early for Dave Beazley smashing into a snare drum after a touchdown and the Powlus trip going for the tying two-pointer:
Anyone interested in Northwestern’s football history, masochist as he is, has probably already found its latest (greatest?) shrine over at Lake the Posts, who breaks down "THE Upset" in suitably epic fashion.
Michigan-Michigan State. 2001. "The Catch." Watch the clock, and listen to those big blue blood vessels pop.
Iowa: get some Chuck Long clips up already. Purdue: Mike Alstott? Come on.