Friday* December 1, 1995
tei
1974,
Cap;
lOtlS!
sasH
Paf
Humble
beginnings
for SWC
By Kristina Buffin
The Battalion
It all began at the Oriental
Hotel in Dallas on May 6, 1914.
On that day, representatives
from Baylor University, South
western University, Oklahoma
A&M College, Texas A&M Col
lege, Louisiana State Universi
ty, the University of Arkansas
and the University of Texas
were present at an organiza
tional meeting held to propose a
new collegiate athletic confer
ence.
This new organization would
become what is now the na
tion’s fifth-oldest surviving col
legiate alliance, the Southwest
Conference.
The charter members were
Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma,
Oklahoma A&M, Southwestern,
Arkansas, and Baylor. Rice
joined in 1915 in the first year
of official play, but sat out for
two years and then returned in
1918. Louisiana State never de
cided to join the conference.
In 1915, Oklahoma and Bay
lor tied for the first SWC title,
but the Bears had to forfeit
their piece of the championship
because of an ineligible player.
The conference was the
brainchild of Dr. W.T. Mather,
a professor of physics and
chairman of the University of
Texas athletic council, who was
named the first president for
the Southwest Intercollegiate
Conference.
Texas Christian University
entered the scene during the
1923 season and Oklahoma
A&M left in 1925. The Univer
sity of Houston joined the
league in 1972, SMU in 1918,
and Texas Tech in 1958. Okla
homa left the SWC in 1920 and
Arkansas withdrew in 1991.
During its 80-year history,
the SWC has produced five
Heisman Trophy winners, five
Outland Trophy (for defensive
linemen) winners, three Vince
Lombardi Trophy recipients (for
linebackers) and one Jim Thor
pe (for defensive backs) award
winner. The SWC has also
turned out 212 All-American
selections and five national
championships.
The first national champi
onship to be won by a SWC
school was TCU in 1938 and
then Texas A&M went on to
win the title in 1939.
The Heisman Trophy win
ners included Davey O’Brien of
TCU, John David Crow of
Texas A&M, Doak Walker of
SMU, Earl Campbell of Texas,
and Andre Ware of Houston.
“It was great having all the
kids from Texas spread among
six teams and nobody else,”
Barney Welch, a SWC official
for 25 years, said. “Not only do
we supply the SWC now but we
also supply the PAC-10, the
SEC and the Big Ten. If you
watch television you will see a
bunch of Texans among the col
lege teams.”
By 1992, the SWC boasted
the eight teams that now make
up the conference and who will
part ways after this season.
SMU
$
Continued from Page 4
The Detroit Lions drafted
Walker out of college, and a year
later he was reunited with Texas
Longhorn great, Bobby Layne,
who was traded to the Lions from
the New York Bulldogs.
With Layne at quarterback
and Walker at halfback, the Li
ons became one of the NFL’s
dominate teams in the 1950s.
Both players are in the Pro
Football Hall of Fame.
Walker and Layne were two
players who were instrumental
in the establishing the SWC as a
major force in college football.
By gaining exposure through
the national media, the two
Heisman winners also helped
spread the conference’s popular
ity out of the region and
throughout the United States.
With the SWC coming to an
end after this season. Walker,
though saddened by the termi
nation of the once mighty con
ference, feels that the break up
was bound to happen because of
financial reasons.
“The league was just in a dif
ferent era when I played. The
game wasn’t so much associated
with money and business like it
is today, and I think the break
up was going to happen eventu
ally because things were start
ing to decline. Maybe it was
time for things to change, but I
still think the whole thing is
just a shame.”
Page 5B • The Battalion
Baylor: Teaff’s leadership fueled Bears’ resurgence
Continued from Page 4
lines with a 128-105-6 record and be
came Baylor’s athletic director. One
year later, he left Baylor to become exec
utive director of the American Football
Coaches Association, ending a relation
ship with the school that lasted nearly
25 years.
Abercrombie said Teaff’s legacy to
Baylor will be felt for quite some time.
“He took a little ol’ school on the
Brazos River and turned it into a foot
ball program,” Abercrombie, who still
works with Teaff at the AFCA, said.
“Not only that, but he made it
respectable, even prominent, on a na
tional level.”
Teaff’s departure from the sidelines
ended a 37-year coaching career that
covered the heyday of the Southwest
Conference. While Teaff was at Baylor,
22 SWC teams finished in the Associat
ed Press Top 10, and SWC teams ap
peared in 68 bowls.
Teaff said he has nothing but positive
memories about his years at Baylor and
the SWC. He said he is excited about
Baylor’s entrance into the Big 12,
but admits to being a bit nostalgic for
the SWC.
The coach remembered when the
Bears last played Arkansas before the
Razorbacks left for the Southeastern
Conference in 1991. Teaff wore a tie
that day because, as he said, “You wear
a tie to a funeral.”
Teaff said he will be part of a special
funeral this weekend when Texas A&M
and Texas clash.
“I will be watching the game this
weekend, and I’ll be wearing a tie,” he
said. “This is the end of a great tradition
and a great conference.”
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