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Quiz about What League Is That
Quiz about What League Is That

What League Is That? Trivia Quiz


How well do you know the various leagues and conferences of American sports? Some of these go 'way back to the Good Old Days. Have fun!

A multiple-choice quiz by shvdotr. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
shvdotr
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
381,143
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
504
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Which "mid-major" NCAA basketball conference has its tournament, called "Arch Madness", in St. Louis in March? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. A major NCAA conference (the oldest in Division I in the US) was composed of ten teams in 1981, 11 in 1991, 12 in 2011, and 14 in 2015, all without changing its name. What name is that? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. From 1960 through 1969 this league featured a "runner-up bowl" for the teams that finished second in the two divisions, thus missing out on the Championship Game. Not everyone was thrilled with it, as one famous coach called it "a hinky-dink...game,... played by hinky-dink players." Which league promoted this third place game? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Minor league baseball has a long and colorful history. One league, going back to 1888, lends its name to a play in the game where a lightly-hit ball goes over an infielder's head and lands in front of an outfielder for a single. Which league is this, whose current Double-A manifestation came into being in 1902 and includes the Arkansas Travelers, Corpus Christi Hooks, and San Antonio Missions? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Two years before he was named Most Valuable Player in Superbowl XXXIV, Kurt Warner played three years with the Iowa Barnstormers, where he was a two-time First Team All-League player. Name this league, which also included such teams as the Arizona Rattlers, Orlando Predators, and Milwaukee Mustangs. Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Which league is the top junior hockey league in the USA and features such teams as the Dubuque Fighting Saints, Green Bay Gamblers, Fargo Force, Waterloo Black Hawks, and the USA Hockey National Team Development Program team which plays its home games in Plymouth, Michigan? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. The AUDL had its first season in 2012 with 26 teams. Which sport is played professionally with such teams as the DC Breeze, New York Empire, Minnesota Wind Chill, San Francisco Flame Throwers, and Detroit Mechanix? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. What ten-team league of 1953 included the Syracuse Nationals, Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Pistons, and Milwaukee Hawks? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. One summer evening in 1984 I was outside a restaurant in "Dogtown" on the ISU campus in Ames, Iowa, when three really athletic-looking fellows came out onto the sidewalk. One looked up at the stars and said, "What network is this? I mean, is it the Pac 8 or the Big 10, or what?" What was the correct answer 'way back then? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Whew, that last question was a long one. We'll make our finale a short one. What league included the Chicago Fire, D.C. United, New England Revolution, Real Salt Lake, and Los Angeles Galaxy? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Which "mid-major" NCAA basketball conference has its tournament, called "Arch Madness", in St. Louis in March?

Answer: Missouri Valley

In 2015 and 2016, the Valley was represented by two teams (Northern Iowa and Wichita State) to get to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2015 UNI was 1-1 and Wichita State was 2-1, including a win over 2 seed Kansas. In 2016 UNI was again 1-1, while Wichita State went 2-1 again, including a play-in game. Both years the Panthers won the MVC Tournament in St. Louis, despite the fact that the Wheatshockers were higher rated in both instances. Other noted achievements of the Panthers from Northern Iowa include beating overall number-one seeded Kansas, 69-67, in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, and a 71-67 win over number-one ranked North Carolina on 21 November, 2015.

Many observers object to the term "mid-major" for NCAA basketball teams, feeling it is condescending or insulting.
2. A major NCAA conference (the oldest in Division I in the US) was composed of ten teams in 1981, 11 in 1991, 12 in 2011, and 14 in 2015, all without changing its name. What name is that?

Answer: Big 10

The Big Ten was founded in 1896 and called the Western Conference. Its members were Unversity of Chicago, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Purdue, and Michigan. The conference was known as the Big Nine after Iowa and Indiana joined in 1899.

By 1950, Chicago had dropped out, to be replaced by Michigan State and Ohio State and remained as the Big Ten until Penn State joined in 1990 and Nebraska in 2011. Finally, Maryland and Rutgers joined in 2014. But the conference continued to keep the "Big Ten" name.
3. From 1960 through 1969 this league featured a "runner-up bowl" for the teams that finished second in the two divisions, thus missing out on the Championship Game. Not everyone was thrilled with it, as one famous coach called it "a hinky-dink...game,... played by hinky-dink players." Which league promoted this third place game?

Answer: National Football League (NFL)

Officially known as the "Bert Bell Bowl", the Playoff Bowl was played each year in Miami's Orange Bowl a week after the NFL's Championship Game.

Vince Lombardi, the author of our quote, was pretty disgusted with the whole concept, especially when the Packers had to play in the "Playoff Bowl" following the 1963 and 1964 seasons (losing the 1965 game after the '64 season) after winning the NFL title games in 1961 and 1962. But he used the loss brilliantly to motivate the Packers to win the next three NFL titles, PLUS the first two NFL-AFL World Championship Games, which became known as the Super Bowl in its third year.
4. Minor league baseball has a long and colorful history. One league, going back to 1888, lends its name to a play in the game where a lightly-hit ball goes over an infielder's head and lands in front of an outfielder for a single. Which league is this, whose current Double-A manifestation came into being in 1902 and includes the Arkansas Travelers, Corpus Christi Hooks, and San Antonio Missions?

Answer: Texas League

The type of hit described is called a "Texas leaguer", even though there is no evidence it first occurred in Texas League play, nor that it is more prevalent there than in any other league or level of play. Other terms for it include "blooper", "bleeder", "humpback liner", and "banjo hit."

"The Dickson Baseball Dictionary" cites examples of the use of the term "Texas Leaguer" or "Texas League hit" back to 1892 and 1895.
5. Two years before he was named Most Valuable Player in Superbowl XXXIV, Kurt Warner played three years with the Iowa Barnstormers, where he was a two-time First Team All-League player. Name this league, which also included such teams as the Arizona Rattlers, Orlando Predators, and Milwaukee Mustangs.

Answer: Arena Football League

Arena football is gridiron football played indoors on ice hockey-sized arenas, thus making the field 50 yards long. Each team is composed of 8 players, as compared to 11 in the regular outdoor style. James Foster invented arena football in 1981 and patented it in 1987.

The first incarnation of the AFL lasted from 1987 to 2008. The league was reincarnated in 2010.
6. Which league is the top junior hockey league in the USA and features such teams as the Dubuque Fighting Saints, Green Bay Gamblers, Fargo Force, Waterloo Black Hawks, and the USA Hockey National Team Development Program team which plays its home games in Plymouth, Michigan?

Answer: the United States Hockey League (USHL)

The USHL is strictly amateur. Its players are all juniors, 20 years of age and under. From the USHL, players usually go on to play at the college level, as about 95% of its players have in the past. However, in 2006, Trevor Lewis of the Des Moines Buccaneers became the first USHL player to sign a National Hockey League contract without first playing in college. Following the 2014-15 season, 251 former USHL players have played in the NHL.
7. The AUDL had its first season in 2012 with 26 teams. Which sport is played professionally with such teams as the DC Breeze, New York Empire, Minnesota Wind Chill, San Francisco Flame Throwers, and Detroit Mechanix?

Answer: ultimate frisbee

More properly known as "ultimate", the team frisbee game most popular today was formalized in 1965 by students at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. A similar two-hand touch football-type game goes back to 1942 at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. The first intercollegiate game was played between Princeton and Rutgers in 1972.

AUDL stands for American Ultimate Disc League.
8. What ten-team league of 1953 included the Syracuse Nationals, Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Pistons, and Milwaukee Hawks?

Answer: National Basketball Association (NBA)

In 1957 the Fort Wayne Pistons became the Detroit Pistons. In that same year the Rochester Royals moved to Cincinnati as the Royals before transforming into the Kansas City-Omaha Kings in 1972 and the Kansas City Kings in 1975 on their way to becoming the Sacramento Kings in 1985.

In 1963 the Syracuse Nationals became the Philadelphia 76ers. The Milwaukee Hawks began in 1946 as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (based in the Quad Cities, i.e. Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois) and, after five years in Milwaukee, became the St. Louis Hawks, and then the Atlanta Hawks, beginning in 1968.

Other NBA teams in 1963 included the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Minneapolis Lakers, and Philadelphia Warriors (who moved to California in 1962).
9. One summer evening in 1984 I was outside a restaurant in "Dogtown" on the ISU campus in Ames, Iowa, when three really athletic-looking fellows came out onto the sidewalk. One looked up at the stars and said, "What network is this? I mean, is it the Pac 8 or the Big 10, or what?" What was the correct answer 'way back then?

Answer: The Big Eight

Back in 1984, Iowa State was part of the Big Eight. The other seven member schools were Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. More than 30 years later, that same conference is called the Big 12. Gone are Colorado, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Besides ISU, KU, KSU, OU, and OSU, members include West Virginia, Baylor, Texas, Texas Christian, and Texas Tech. Yes, the Big 12 Conference has only 10 schools.
10. Whew, that last question was a long one. We'll make our finale a short one. What league included the Chicago Fire, D.C. United, New England Revolution, Real Salt Lake, and Los Angeles Galaxy?

Answer: Major League Soccer

MLS is the top level of men's soccer played in the United States. It consists of 20 teams, three of which are Canadian. LA Galaxy is the first team to win five MLS Cups, including the 2014 title. They are one of six teams to have been in the league for 20 years. In 2015 the Portland Timbers won their first cup in only their fifth year in the league.
Source: Author shvdotr

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