 The system was originally designed to rank teams in the Big Nine (later the Big Ten) conference.Chicago clothing manufacturer Jack Rissman then persuaded Dickinson to rank the nation's teams under the system, and awarded the Rissman Trophy to the winning university.The Dickinson System was the first to gain widespread national public and media acceptance as a "major selector", according to the NCAA Football Records Book prior to the establishment of the Associated Press poll in 1936.