There remains, among the ND faithful, significant resentment of the Big 10 for anti-Catholic bias in the early days.
While I don't doubt they hold to this grievance that occurred before their grandfathers were born, I question its validity. It's THEIR version of history, but the facts are something else altogether.
The Notre Dame version of history goes like this: we wanted to join the Big 10, and they hated Catholics so we couldn't. And they refused to play us yadda yadda.
MIGHT that be true? Sure, I won't deny it's
possible.
Problem is, good luck proving it. The Big 10 schools (of which there were nine when the whole fracas began) had plenty of reasons for opposing Notre Dame that had zip to do with their religion.
1) The academic standards at Notre Dame AT THAT TIME were lower than the Big 10 threshold.
2) Why would Indiana and Purdue want a third team in the state?
3) Why would Northwestern and Chicago want another school in conference so close to Chicago?
4) There was an inner-conference power struggle in the early 1900s that caused Michigan to leave the conference for years with a debate over professional coaches and also whether Big 10 conference rules applied to games against non-Big 10 teams (Michigan wanted to schedule teams like Yale and play by the more lax Eastern rules in those games).
5) The Big 10 rejected Drake, too. Does this mean they hated the Disciples of Christ?
6) When did the Big 10 schools "refuse to play Notre Dame?"
Go look at their schedules. The B1G began in 1895. AT LEAST ONE Big Ten team played the Irish every single year from 1896-1908, and most years at least two did. Michigan and Notre Dame played in 1909, but it wasn't a game against a "Big Ten" team because Michigan withdrew from the Western Conference in a dispute over: a) how many games to play; b) conference rules vs out of conference rules; c) professional coaches.
So Notre Dame didn't play a Big Ten team from 1909-1916, and the first of those years they played a team that WAS in the Big Ten when the schedule was made. Does this mean anti-Catholicism ceased to exist in 1918, when Purdue played Notre Dame? (If I say 1917, folks will say, "Yeah, but Wisconsin is a heavily Catholic state" - to which I'd say, "But the votes were always 9-0 against Notre Dame and every other team not named Nebraska.").
7) If Notre Dame was rejected because of anti-Catholicism, why in the world did the conference reject Nebraska?
8) If there was this so-called anti-Catholicism, why did Notre Dame not only apply and get rejected in 1901 and 1902 BUT ALSO in 1913 when this alleged "the Big Ten won't play Notre Dame" argument was in full force?
Look, I'm not saying it's not POSSIBLE that anti-Catholicism played a role in the rejection of Notre Dame. But given that the original name of Michigan was Catholepistemiad Michigana (and largely pushed for a French Catholic priest) and Wisconsin (in 1910) had over 1/2 million Catholics in a state of 2.3 million. So why were Michigan and Wisconsin in the Big Ten if the anti-Catholic argument holds any water at all?
This whole claim came from Notre Dame's Father Crumley when the Irish got rejected in 1902. Was he right? Maybe. But this whole narrative is questionable at best and downright wrong at worst in my view.
It's amazing to me how much evidence exists for enforced segregation in the Southern USA in the 50s and 60s but not a single shred of evidence exists to support THIS claim.
9) The Big 10 had only eight schools from 1907-1912, Ohio State made it nine in 1913. Michigan rejoined in 1917, the same year the Big 10 began playing the Irish again.
Notre Dame applied and was rejected again in 1917 and 1919.
Might this possibly have had to do with the mechanics of setting up a schedule for eleven teams as opposed to ten?
10) This also ignores the role of Michigan Coach Fielding Yost in the whole deal.
Michigan's beef with the Big Ten stemmed from the fact they were a dominant power with a coach who made more money than any of the teachers, which the rest of the Big 10 opposed. It's why they left. They dealt arrogantly with conference members, not showing up at meetings repeatedly, and talking down to folks, particularly Nebraska.
Knute Rockne hated Yost, in part because he always managed to have officials from Michigan work his games. (Now we know why Michigan can't do jack squat).
Notre Dame applied for membership AGAIN in 1926, and got turned down within minutes of the meeting. I'm sure the fact that the guy running the meeting was a Michigan man friendly to Yost probably had something to do with it. Again, the vote was unanimous against Notre Dame.
And who was the loudest against the Irish? Michigan, coached by Yost, and Chicago, coached by Amos Alonzo Stagg. Might the rejection in 1926 have been more of "they're good, we don't want to play them?"
11) The Big Ten nearly split right after that due to shady recruiting.
So....which one would have taken Notre Dame?
ND is loyal to USCw and service academies because they scheduled ND when Big 10 schools refused to.
(Looks at Notre Dame's schedule for 1910-1916.....Army played them. Navy didn't play them until 1927, and AFA didn't even play football until 1958)
I wouldn’t say the issue can’t be overcome, but it’s not as simple as geographic logic either…
No, but I'm not so sure this narrative isn't about 1% fact and 99% myth. Besides, if Notre Dame had been in the Big Ten and made it a Big 11, they wouldn't have had those radio deals in the 20s that made them legendary or gave Rockne a microphone that he could use against others.