re: When did the "Big 6" come about?

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From 1902 to 1932 Bama was Independent then Southern Conf. In those 30 years Bama played in three Rose Bowls (2-1)

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I think Bama fans often put way too much stock into their ancient Rose Bowl appearances. In those days, bowls were exhibitions and it took teams weeks to travel to and from the South to California by train.... A lot of solid East Coast programs just didn't choose to make the trip. Had programs known back then what the prestige of the Rose Bowl would one day turn into, they probably would have figured out a way to go.

It's not like the modern day where if a team gets selected to a top bowl, they automatically go without even thinking twice.

Vanderbilt was the actual first relevant National program from the South no matter how hard Bama fans try to re-write history and pretend that their train ride to California was somehow the birth of college football in the Deep South.

From 1893-1930, Vanderbilt had a 76.3% winning percentage compared to Alabama's 69.0%... and they played a much more difficult schedule.

In those early days, the real powerhouses of the sport were Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Penn... along with Notre Dame and Michigan... and also Texas

Between 1902 and 1930, Vanderbilt played 19 games against these CFB Elites (Michigan 9x, Texas 8x, Yale and Harvard each once) while Alabama played just 4 such games.... playing Texas 3x and Penn once.

Not to mention the fact that Vanderbilt had a record of 8-3-1 against Alabama during this period.

Yes, Alabama has an early football pedigree that preceded the birth of the SEC. But when Bama fans try to pretend they were truly the first Southern powerhouse, that's absolutely false.

Vanderbilt was the first Nationally prominent program from the Deep South, and Texas and even Texas A&M were both probably stronger than Bama in those days if you want to expand the geography.