Editing College football (section)

===From a regional to a national sport (1930–1958)===
[[File:Hutson-Don-1940-grainfix.jpg|thumb|[[Don Hutson]] in 1940]]
In the early 1930s, the college game continued to grow, particularly in the [[Southern United States|South]], bolstered by fierce rivalries such as the "[[South's Oldest Rivalry]]", between Virginia and North Carolina and the "[[Deep South's Oldest Rivalry]]", between [[Georgia Bulldogs football|Georgia]] and [[Auburn Tigers football|Auburn]]. Although before the mid-1920s most national powers came from the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]] or the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]], the trend changed when several teams from the South and the West Coast achieved national success. [[Wallace William Wade]]'s [[1925 Alabama Crimson Tide football team#1925|1925 Alabama]] team won the [[1926 Rose Bowl]] after receiving its first national title and [[William Alexander (coach)|William Alexander]]'s 1928 [[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football|Georgia Tech]] team defeated [[California Golden Bears football|California]] in the [[1929 Rose Bowl]]. College football quickly became the most popular spectator sport in the South.{{sfn|Vancil|2000|pp=24–29}}

Several major modern college football conferences rose to prominence during this time period. The [[Southwest Athletic Conference]] had been founded in 1915. Consisting mostly of schools from Texas, the conference saw back-to-back national champions with [[TCU Horned Frogs football|Texas Christian University]] (TCU) in 1938 and [[Texas A&M Aggies football|Texas A&M]] in 1939.{{sfn|MacCambridge|1999|p=124}}<ref>{{cite web | title = A Look Back at the Southwest Conference | work = 2006–2007 Texas Almanac | publisher = The Dallas Morning News | year = 2007 | url = https://texasalmanac.com/topics/sports/look-back-southwest-conference | access-date = July 4, 2018}}</ref> The [[Pacific Coast Conference]] (PCC), a precursor to the [[Pac-12 Conference]] (Pac-12), had its own back-to-back champion in the [[USC Trojans football|University of Southern California]] which was awarded the title in 1931 and 1932.{{sfn|MacCambridge|1999|p=124}} The [[Southeastern Conference]] (SEC) formed in 1932 and consisted mostly of schools in the [[Deep South]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Ours |first=Robert M. |title=Southeastern Conference |encyclopedia=College Football Encyclopedia |publisher=Augusta Computer Services |year=2007 |url=http://www.footballencyclopedia.com/sechome.htm |access-date=May 31, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510232409/http://footballencyclopedia.com/sechome.htm |archive-date=May 10, 2007}}</ref> As in previous decades, the Big Ten continued to dominate in the 1930s and 1940s, with Minnesota winning 5 titles between 1934 and 1941, and Michigan (1933, 1947, and 1948) and [[Ohio State Buckeyes football|Ohio State]] (1942) also winning titles.{{sfn|MacCambridge|1999|p=124}}{{sfn|MacCambridge|1999|p=148}}

As it grew beyond its regional affiliations in the 1930s, college football garnered increased national attention. Four new [[bowl game]]s were created: the [[Orange Bowl (game)|Orange Bowl]], [[Sugar Bowl]], the [[Sun Bowl]] in 1935, and the [[Cotton Bowl Classic|Cotton Bowl]] in 1937. In lieu of an actual national championship, these bowl games, along with the earlier Rose Bowl, provided a way to match up teams from distant regions of the country that did not otherwise play. In 1936, the [[Associated Press]] began its [[AP Poll|weekly poll]] of prominent sports writers, ranking all of the nation's college football teams. Since there was no national championship game, the final version of the AP poll was used to determine who was crowned the [[Mythical National Championship|National Champion]] of college football.{{sfn|Vancil|2000|p=30}}

The 1930s saw growth in the passing game. Though some coaches, such as General [[Robert Neyland]] at Tennessee, continued to eschew its use, several rules changes to the game had a profound effect on teams' ability to throw the ball. In 1934, the rules committee removed two major penalties—a loss of five yards for a second incomplete pass in any series of downs and a loss of possession for an incomplete pass in the end zone—and shrunk the circumference of the ball, making it easier to grip and throw. Players who became famous for taking advantage of the easier passing game included Alabama end [[Don Hutson]] and TCU passer [[Sammy Baugh|"Slingin" Sammy Baugh]].{{sfn|Vancil|2000|pp=28–30}}

In 1935, New York City's [[Downtown Athletic Club]] awarded the first [[Heisman Trophy]] to [[Chicago Maroons football|University of Chicago]] halfback [[Jay Berwanger]], who was also the first ever [[NFL draft]] pick in 1936. The trophy was designed by sculptor [[Frank Eliscu]] and modeled after [[NYU Violets|New York University]] player [[Ed Smith (running back)|Ed Smith]]. The trophy recognizes the nation's "most outstanding" college football player and has become one of the most coveted awards in all of American sports.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Brief History of the Heisman Trophy |work=Heisman Trophy |publisher=heisman.com |url=http://www.heisman.com/history/trophy_history.php |year=2007 |access-date=May 31, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091205045601/http://www.heisman.com/history/trophy_history.php |archive-date=December 5, 2009}}</ref>

During World War II, college football players enlisted in the [[Military of the United States|armed force]]s, some [[List of american football games in Europe during World War II|playing in Europe during the war]]. As most of these players had eligibility left on their college careers, some of them returned to college at [[United States Military Academy|West Point]], bringing Army back-to-back national titles in 1944 and 1945 under coach [[Earl Blaik|Red Blaik]]. [[Doc Blanchard]] (known as "Mr. Inside") and [[Glenn Davis (halfback)|Glenn Davis]] (known as "Mr. Outside") both won the [[Heisman Trophy]], in 1945 and 1946. On the coaching staff of those 1944–1946 Army teams was future [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] coach [[Vince Lombardi]].{{sfn|MacCambridge|1999|p=148}}{{sfn|Vancil|2000|p=39}}

The 1950s saw the rise of yet more [[Dynasty (sports)|dynasties]] and power programs. [[Oklahoma Sooners football|Oklahoma]], under coach [[Bud Wilkinson]], won three national titles (1950, 1955, 1956) and all ten [[Big Eight Conference]] championships in the decade while building a record 47-game winning streak. [[Woody Hayes]] led Ohio State to two national titles, in 1954 and 1957, and won three [[Big Ten Conference football champions|Big Ten titles]]. The [[Michigan State Spartans football|Michigan State Spartans]] were known as the "football factory" during the 1950s, where coaches [[Biggie Munn]] and [[Duffy Daugherty]] led the Spartans to two national titles and two [[Big Ten Conference football champions|Big Ten titles]] after joining the [[Big Ten Conference|Big Ten]] athletically in 1953. Wilkinson and Hayes, along with Robert Neyland of Tennessee, oversaw a revival of the running game in the 1950s. Passing numbers dropped from an average of 18.9 attempts in 1951 to 13.6 attempts in 1955, while teams averaged just shy of 50 running plays per game. Nine out of ten Heisman Trophy winners in the 1950s were runners. Notre Dame, one of the biggest passing teams of the decade, saw a substantial decline in success; the 1950s were the only decade between 1920 and 1990 when the team did not win at least a share of the national title. [[Paul Hornung]], Notre Dame quarterback, did, however, win the Heisman in 1956, becoming the only player from a losing team ever to do so.{{sfn|Vancil|2000|pp=41–45}}{{sfn|MacCambridge|1999|p=172}}

The [[1956 Sugar Bowl]] also gained international attention when Georgia's pro-segregationist [[Marvin Griffin|Gov. Griffin]] publicly threatened [[Georgia Tech]] and its President [[Blake Van Leer]] over allowing the first African American player to play in a collegiate bowl game in the south.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2019/11/14/20914927/rearview-revisited-segregation-and-the-sugar-bowl-georgia-tech-pittsburgh-bobby-grier-1955-1956-game |publisher=Georgia Tech|title=Rearview Revisited: Segregation and the Sugar Bowl|author=Jake Grantl|date=2019-11-14|access-date=2019-11-14}}</ref>