Today's Tidbit... Keeping Score At The Big House

Football was first played on college greens and local pastures lacking the simplest creature comforts. However, things improved quickly as the top games moved to polo grounds and professional baseball stadiums with the capacity to seat thousands or tens of thousands.

In part, to limit the commercialism of the game, some leading colleges banned games played off campus, which pushed schools to build on-campus stadiums. Most were simple wooden structures that handled football, baseball, and track. Over time, the all-purpose facilities became separate venues, including massive football-only stadiums capable of handling the large crowds attending rivalry games.

The football fields at Michigan followed that pattern. After playing wherever they could find open ground, the school opened Regents Field in 1893. Upon opening, it held 400 fans, doubled the next year, and grew eightfold the next before more than doubling again in 1900 to handle 15,000 people.