Today's Tidbit... The Big Ten's First Conference Championship Game (in 1931)

The outcomes of this weekend's game determined various conference champs and the bowl destinations for every team fortunate to continue playing. Michigan outpaced Purdue to claim a conference championship in Big Ten country, but that was not Purdue's first post-season conference football championship game. The outcome also differed last time.

Back in 1931, the country was in the midst of the Great Depression, so the Big Ten decided to raise money for charity. They did so on the last weekend of the football season by deciding to extend the season by one week and donate the gate receipts to relief funds in each state.

Back then, teams played different numbers of conference games and had uneven schedules, leading to contested claims over who earned the conference championship. That was not the case in 1931 when Purdue (4-1, 8-1) lost during the season to Wisconsin, Michigan (4-1, 7-1-1) lost to Ohio State and had a nonconference tie with Michigan State, while Northwestern (5-0, 8-0-1) tied Notre Dame, but was unscathed in the conference, giving the Wildcats their first outright Big Ten football championship.