Editing Big Ten Conference (section)

===1940s: Chicago leaves and Michigan State joins===
The conference was again known as the Big Nine after the University of Chicago decided to de-emphasize varsity athletics just after World War II. In 1939 UChicago President [[Robert Maynard Hutchins]] made the decision to abolish the football program, based on his negative views of big-time college football's excesses and associated problems of the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7Q8mAAAAIBAJ&dq=chicago%20big%20ten%20conference%20football&pg=3870%2C351905|title=Chicago gives up Football as major sport|date=December 22, 1939|publisher=Gettysburg Times|access-date=November 25, 2013}}</ref> Chicago withdrew from the conference in 1946 after struggling to obtain victories in many conference matchups. It was believed that one of several schools, notably [[Iowa State Cyclones|Iowa State]], [[Marquette Golden Eagles|Marquette]], [[Michigan State Spartans|Michigan State]], [[Nebraska Cornhuskers|Nebraska]], [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish|Notre Dame]], and [[Pittsburgh Panthers|Pittsburgh]] would replace Chicago at the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PwMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2580,3858021&dq=chicago+big+ten+conference&hl=en|title=Chicago U. Withdraws From Big Ten|access-date=October 17, 2009}}</ref> On May 20, 1949,<ref name="Western Conference"/> Michigan State ended the speculation by joining and the conference was again known as the Big Ten.{{clarification needed|reason=The table under Current Full Members says MSU joined in 1948. Is it 1948 or 1949? Could the former be the date of the decision and the latter the date of joining? |date=August 2023}}  The Big Ten's membership would remain unchanged for the next 40 years. The conference's official name throughout this period remained the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives. It did not formally adopt the name ''Big Ten'' until 1987, when it was incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation.