Will USC/UCLA Change Big 10 Culture?

Or, Will Big 10 Culture Change USC/UCLA

Today I was watching Nebraska play Northwestern in football. They played a game in Ireland. Nice. When I was growing up, college football was a lot simpler. It was a business to be sure, but less of a business. There were several conferences that mattered. There was the Big 10 of course where I grew up. There was the SEC. There was the Big 8 and the Pac 8. There was the Southwest Conference which was basically the state of Texas and Arkansas. There was the ACC and then the lesser football conferences like the WAC and Ivy League. Penn St. and Notre Dame were independents.

I had a weird thought so go with me here.

A former friend of mine, Professor Michael Gibbs, is a pretty sharp labor economist. He worked closely with Gary Becker who might be the best economist of the 20th century, including Milton Friedman. We had a falling out over Trump and Covid. He’s still sharp, and his research holds, even though we disagree over Covid. I think the data proves that I was correct but whatever. We have some disagreements over Trump but I suspect he isn’t really fond of Biden either. Especially now that Biden is using the power of the federal government to investigate political rivals. Mike has done a lot of research about what happens to corporate cultures when one company buys another company.

The knee-jerk reaction is this. I am a big corporate and I am going to buy this innovative company because it will inject my stale corporations with innovation.

That’s a lot of the rationale you hear from investment bankers for M+A activity. Company A buys Company B because Company B is super great at this thing and Company A will be super great now. Plus, Company A will think differently because of Company B's people.

Except, Professor Gibbs found that wasn’t the case in his research.

Here is the abstract of the linked paper. We examine the dynamics of post-merger organizational integration. Our basic question is whether there is evidence of conflict between employees from the two merging firms. Such conflict can arise for several reasons, including firm-specific human capital, corporate culture, power, or favoritism. We examine this issue using a sample of Danish mergers. Controlling for other effects, employees from the acquirer fare better than employees from the acquired firm, suggesting that they have greater power in the newly merged hierarchy. As a separate effect, the more that either firm dominates the other in terms of number of employees, the better do its employees fare compared to employees from the other firm. This suggests that majority/minority status is also important to assimilation of workers, much as in ethnic conflicts. Finally, greater overlap of pre-merger operations decreases turnover. This finding is inconsistent with the view that workers of the two firms substitute for each other, creating efficiencies from merger. However, that result and our other findings are consistent with the view that more similar workers (in terms of either firm- or industry-specific human capital) are easier to integrate post merger.

The University of Chicago left the Big Ten in 1946. So, we can’t think about U of C football but we can say George Halas stole their logo and their motto. The original Monsters of the Midway were in Hyde Park.

But, what’s interesting to me is how the Big 10 and other traditional conferences have expanded, and what has happened to football/basketball programs post-expansion. A case and point is Nebraska.

I love the Big 10, but truth be told Big 10 football isn’t the best in the country. It hasn’t been since the early 1960’s. Here is the greatest linebacker of all time in his Illini uniform back in the day.

When I was growing up in the late 60s, 70s, and 80s, I’d wager that Pac 10 football, SEC football, and some schools from the Big 8 dominated along with ND and Penn St. No doubt, Michigan and Ohio St were always top of mind but choked in bowl games. Woody punching a Clemson player is one case and point but Bo never won a big game when it counted for Michigan either. Out of 17 chances, Bo only won 5 Bowl games or less than 30%. Not only that, but Michigan often got blown out in bowl games as did Ohio St. For comparison, their contemporary and legend, Alabama’s Bear Bryant teams played in 13 bowl games from 1970 to 1982. He won 7 and tied 1 for a 53% winning percentage. Penn St. coach Joe Paterno played in 37 bowls winning almost 65% of them. Since PSU joined the Big 10 in 1990, they have never been the number one ranked team in the country.

The real teams to watch were Oklahoma, Nebraska, USC, Penn State, Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M, and Alabama. Here is a cut and paste on national champs from 1961 to 1981 so you get my drift. You see the same teams come up again and again. The only one from the Big 10 that gets a real mention is Ohio St. and guess what? They are the only team that is relevant in the national championship conversation today.

1961 Alabama11–0Paul "Bear" BryantAP, B(QPRS), BR, CFRA, DeS, DuS, FN, HAF, L, NCF, NFF, SR, UPI, WSOhio State8–0–1Woody HayesFWAA, PS

1962LSU9–1–1Charles McClendonB(QPRS)Ole Miss10–0Johnny VaughtBR, L, SRUSC11–0John McKayAP, B(QPRS), CFRA, DeS, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, NCF, NFF, PS, UPI, WS

1963Texas11–0Darrell RoyalAP, B(QPRS), BR, CFRA, DeS, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, L, NCF, NFF, PS, SR, UPI, WS

1964Alabama10–1Paul "Bear" BryantAP, B(QPRS), L, UPIArkansas11–0Frank BroylesBR, CFRA, FWAA, HAF, NCF, PS, SRMichigan9–1Bump ElliottDuSNotre Dame9–1Ara ParseghianDeS, FN, NFF

1965Alabama9–1–1Paul "Bear" BryantAP, CFRA, FWAA, NCFMichigan State10–1Duffy DaughertyB(QPRS), BR, DeS, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, L, NFF, PS, SR, UPI

1966Alabama11–0Paul "Bear" BryantB(QPRS), SRMichigan State9–0–1Duffy DaughertyCFRA, HAF, NFF, PSNotre Dame9–0–1Ara ParseghianAP, BR, DeS, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, L, MGR, NCF, NFF, PS, SR, UPI

1967Notre Dame8–2Ara ParseghianDuSOklahoma10–1Chuck FairbanksPSUSC10–1John McKayAP, B(QPRS), BR, CFRA, DeS, FN, FWAA, HAF, MGR, NCF, NFF, SR, UPITennessee9–2Doug DickeyL

1968Georgia8–1–2Vince DooleyLOhio State10–0Woody HayesAP, B(QPRS), BR, CFRA, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, NCF, NFF, PS, R(FACT), SR, UPITexas9–1–1Darrell RoyalDeS, MGR, SR

1969Ohio State8–1Woody HayesMGRPenn State11–0Joe PaternoR(FACT), SRTexas11–0Darrell RoyalAP, B(QPRS), BR, CFRA, DeS, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, L, NCF, NFF, PS, R(FACT), SR, UPI

1970Arizona State11–0Frank KushPSNebraska11–0–1Bob DevaneyAP, BR, CFRA, DeS, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, NCF, R(FACT), SRNotre Dame10–1Ara ParseghianMGR, R(FACT), SROhio State9–1Woody HayesNFFTexas10–1Darrell RoyalB(QPRS), L, NFF, R(FACT), UPI

1971Nebraska13–0Bob DevaneyAP, B(QPRS), BR, CFRA, DeS, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, L, MGR, NCF, NFF, PS, R(FACT), SR, UPI

1972USC12–0John McKayAP, B(QPRS), BR, CFRA, DeS, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, L, MGR, NCF, NFF, PS, R(FACT), SR, UPI

1973Alabama11–1Paul "Bear" BryantB(QPRS), UPIMichigan10–0–1Bo SchembechlerNCF, PSNotre Dame11–0Ara ParseghianAP, BR, FN, FWAA, HAF, NCF, NFFOhio State10–0–1Woody HayesNCF, PS, R(FACT), SROklahoma10–0–1Barry SwitzerCFRA, DeS, DuS, SR

1974Ohio State10–2Woody HayesMGROklahoma11–0Barry SwitzerAP, B(QPRS), BR, CFRA, DeS, DuS, FN, HAF, L, NCF, PS, R(FACT), SRUSC10–1–1John McKayFWAA, HAF, NCF, NFF, UPI

1975Alabama11–1Paul "Bear" BryantMGRArizona State12–0Frank KushNCF, SNOhio State11–1Woody HayesB(QPRS), HAF, MGR, PS, R(FACT)Oklahoma11–1Barry SwitzerAP, BR, CFRA, DeS, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, NCF, NFF, R(FACT), SR, UPI

1976Pittsburgh12–0Johnny MajorsAP, BR, FN, FWAA, HAF, NCF, NFF, PS, R(FACT), SN, SR, UPIUSC11–1John RobinsonB(QPRS), BR, CFRA, DeS, DuS, MGR

1977Alabama11–1Paul "Bear" BryantCFRAArkansas11–1Lou HoltzR(FACT)Notre Dame11–1Dan DevineAP, BR, CFRA, DeS, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, MGR, NCF, NFF, PS, R(FACT), SN, SR, UPITexas11–1Fred AkersB(QPRS), R(FACT), SR

1978Alabama11–1Paul "Bear" BryantAP, CFRA, FWAA, HAF, NCF, NFF, R(FACT)Oklahoma11–1Barry SwitzerDeS, DuS, HAF, L, MGR, PS, R(FACT), SRUSC12–1John RobinsonB(QPRS), BR, FN, HAF, NCF, R(FACT), SN, SR, UPI

1979Alabama12–0Paul "Bear" BryantAP, B(QPRS), BR, DeS, DuS, FN, FWAA, HAF, MGR, NCF, NFF, NYT, PS, R(FACT), SN, SR, UPIUSC11–0–1John RobinsonCFRA

1980Florida State10–2Bobby BowdenR(FACT)Georgia12–0Vince DooleyAP, B(QPRS), BR, FN, FWAA, HAF, NCF, NFF, PS, R(FACT), SN, SR, UPINebraska10–2Tom OsborneR(FACT)Oklahoma10–2Barry SwitzerDuS, MGRPittsburgh11–1Jackie SherrillCFRA, DeS, NYT, R(FACT), SR

1981Clemson12–0Danny FordAP, B(QPRS), BR, CFRA, DeS, FN, FWAA, HAF, L, MGR, NCF, NFF, NYT, PS, R(FACT), SN, SR, UPINebraska9–3Tom OsborneNCFPenn State10–2Joe PaternoDuSPittsburgh11–1Jackie SherrillNCFSMU10–1Ron MeyerNCFTexas10–1–1Fred Akers

I think leagues can be like big corporate companies.

Look at the fortunes of Penn State and Nebraska since they joined the Big 10. Neither has been a part of the national championship conversation since they joined. In both cases, each program is less competitive. I mean, Nebraska lost to Northwestern for goodness sake! It’s not the only time they have accomplished that “feat”.

Sure, college football has changed. But, Nebraska and Penn State used to dominate. They’d get top recruits. Today, not so much. It’s all ancient history and they might as well be talking about Amos Alonzo Stagg and the football team with Jay Berwanger at UChicago.

USC also used to be a consistently dominant football program. UCLA wasn’t in football but is the program in basketball. To be sure, outside of Oregon the west coast hasn’t been a football power, nor a basketball power.

As USC and UCLA join the Big 10, I wonder if the same fate will envelop them. Will they become a part of Big 10 culture (always choking in big games) or will they change the culture? Based on Professor Gibbs's research, I am thinking the former, not the latter.