Conceptualizing "Small-Time" College Athletics: The Fracture of the "Little Nineteen" Conference in the 1930s

The Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC), formed in the early 1900s, oversaw athletic relations among most of Illinois's colleges and universities. At one point, the so-called Little Nineteen had over twenty members. In the 1930s, though, the conference fell apart, largely due to internecine conflicts over freshman eligibility. The IIAC's fracture is a case study illustrating the impact of the Great Depression on small-college athletics. In particular, it shows how private schools sought to distinguish themselves both athletically and educationally from publicly funded institutions, including teachers colleges and junior colleges. Ultimately, by forming a new conference in 1937—and by limiting competition against public institutions or nonaccredited colleges—these small, private "liberal arts colleges" helped conceptualize a distinctive type of small-time intercollegiate athletics that rejected big-time athletic commercialization.