Big Ten Conference: Everything You Need to Know About the Big Ten

he Big Ten is known as one of college sports’ most successful conferences. The Big Ten conference has established itself as the one of the greatest collection of institutions in the USA. It is the oldest Division 1 collegiate athletic conference in the US and has been around for 125 years. The Big Ten (B1G) remains one of the national leader’s in intercollegiate athletics and competes in the NCAA Division 1. The Big Ten Conference was formerly known as both the Western Conference & the Big Nine Conference. It is based in Rosemont Chicago area, Illinois. For a few decades the conference was made up of just ten schools. Now, it currently has 14 members and two affiliate institutions.

NOTE: The Big Ten existed for a century as an collection of schools located in the Midwest. Now, the conference’s geographic reach stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Plains. Additionally, in 2024 it will further extend to the Pacific Ocean. Although much expansion has happened, the conference has maintained its historic name, B1G.

WHO ARE THE BIG 10 MEMBER SCHOOLS?

There is an East and West division in the Big 10 Conference. The Big Ten member schools are major research universities with large financial endowments and strong academic reputations. They have huge student enrollment which is the main trait of its school members. You will find that 12 out of the 14 member schools enroll more than 30,000 students! The Big 10 member schools are largely state public universities with only the Northwestern University currently being the only private university in the Big Ten. Big Ten schools are also members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, formerly the Committee on Institutional Cooperation which we will take a deeper look into further down the article.

NOTE: Collectively, Big Ten schools educate more than 520,000 total students and have 5.7 million living alumni. The member schools engage in $9.3 billion in funded research each year. 

Here is a list of the current Big Ten members schools:

EAST DIVISION

• Indiana University Bloomington – Hossiers
• University of Maryland, College Park – Terrapins
• University of Michigan – Wolverines
• Michigan State University – Spartans
• Ohio State University – Buckeyes
• Pennsylvania State University – Nittany Lions
• Rutgers University – Scarlet Knights

WEST DIVISION

• University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign – Fighting Illini
• University of Iowa – Hawkeyes
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities – Golden Gophers
• University of Nebraska–Lincoln – Cornhuskers
• Northwestern University – Wildcats
• Purdue University – Boilermakers
• University of Wisconsin–Madison – Badgers
• University of California, Los Angeles – Bruins
• University of Southern California – Trojans

On June 30, 2022, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California (USC) announced their plans to withdraw from the Pac-12 Conference and join the Big Ten in 2024 as full members.

The associated member schools of the Big Ten Conference are as follows:

• Johns Hopkins University – Blue Jays
• University of Notre Dame – Fighting Irish

BIG TEN HISTORY

The Big Ten conference’s history goes back, stretching over a decade (120+ years). It began om January 11th 1895 at the Palmer House hotel in Chicago. Here the then-Purdue president James H. Smart and other leaders from: the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and University of Wisconsin set out to organize and develop the regulations for intercollegiate athletics. On February 8, 1896, a staff member from each of the previously mentioned schools, met at Palmer House once again to officially establish all the workings of the conference. In 1905, The Big Ten which was officially incorporated as the “Intercollegiate Conference Athletic Association”.

The academic goals set by the leaders of the member schools of the conference paired with their devoted commitment to athletics,lead the conference to develop the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1915. This medal was awarded annually by each conference school to a student-athlete of the graduating class who attained the greatest proficiency in scholarship and athletics.

NOTE: For more than 100 years, the Big Ten Medal of Honor has been the most prestigious honor a student competing in Big Ten athletics can receive.

THE BIG NINE CONFERENCE

The conference had a 30 years stretch with 10 members until the University of Chicago formally withdrew its membership back in 1946 reducing the conference to 9. However, 3 years later Michigan State College (now Michigan State University) joined to restore the Big Ten back to its rightful 10 members. 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.

The Big Nine Conference timeline:

• 1899 – was when the first official reference to the conference as the Big Nine after Iowa and Indiana had joined.
• 1900 – Nebraska first petitioned to join the league and again in 1911 but was turned away both times.
• 1907 – In April, Michigan was voted out of the conference for failing to adhere to league rules.
• 1912 – Ohio State was added to the conference.
• 1916 – The first known references to the conference as the Big Ten were in December when Michigan rejoined the conference after a nine-year absence.

THE BIG TEN ADDITIONAL SCHOOLS

In December 1989, the Big Ten conference invited Pennsylvania State University to become a member. By June 1990, the Council of Presidents officially voted Pennsylvania State University into the conference making the Big Ten conference members, 11. The University of Nebraska was the nest school to join. On June 11, 2010, the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors (COP/C) approved a formal membership application by the University of Nebraska. This expanded the Big Ten conference to 12 member school with Nebraska officially joining the Big Ten on July 1, 2011. In 2012, the Big Ten conference expanded further when the COP/C approved a formal membership applications from the University of Maryland and Rutgers University. Maryland and Rutgers became official Big Ten members on July 1, 2014.

THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, AWARDS & HONORS

The Big Ten has participated in basketball since 1904. It has led the nation in attendance every season since 1978. It has been a national powerhouse in men’s basketball, having multiple championship winners and often sending four or more teams to the NCAA D1 men’s basketball tournament.

Previous NCAA D1 basketball champions include:

• Indiana – 5 titles
• Michigan State – 2 titles
• Michigan – 1 title
• Ohio State – 1 title
• Wisconsin – 1 title

NOTE: Big Ten teams have also had much success in the postseason National Invitational Tournament NIT.

National Championships, Final Fours & NCAA tournament appearances

The Big Ten Conference has a rich and successful history when it comes to making notable appearances and achieving exclusive awards. Lets take a look at some of the member school achievements and what type of awards student athletes can achieve.

• National Championships: The Big Ten Conference basketball programs have collectively won 10 NCAA men’s basketball championships as Big Ten members.
• Final Four: Of the 14 current conference member schools, 11 have made it to the Final Four at least once alongside both future members have also done this.

NOTE: Nine of the Big Ten schools (Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State, Maryland, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin + future member UCLA) are among the National Top-50 in all-time NCAA tournament appearances.

• The Big Ten Athlete of the Year award:  is given annually to the athletes voted as the top male and female athlete in the Big Ten Conference.
• Big Ten Medal of Honor: is given annually at each school for one male student-athlete and one female student-athlete.
• Big Ten Sportsmanship Award: is given annually at each school for one male student-athlete and one female student-athlete.
• The Capital One Cup: is an award given annually to the best men’s and women’s Division I college athletics programs in the United States. Points are earned throughout the year based on final standings of NCAA Championships and final coaches’ poll rankings.

NOTE: All Big Ten programs combined have won more than 450 team and 1,800 individual national championships. They consistently take home individual honors for athletic and academic accomplishments and fulfill the Big Ten’s mission of academic achievement and athletic success.

WHAT IS THE BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE?

Presidents of the Big Ten member schools have always recognized the priority of academics. With the establishment of the Big Ten Academic Alliance in 1958 (which was formerly known as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation) they took things to another level when they introduced the Big Ten Academic Alliance. The Big Ten Academic Alliance is an academic board of all Big Ten member schools. Every year, the schools who currently make up the Big Ten Academic Alliance produce over $10 billion in funded research which is $5 billion more than any other conference!

COVID AND THE BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE – BIG TEN TASK FORCE

Back in March, 2020 as we were faced with the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference partnered with all 14 of its member schools to create the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases. They formed this group to provide sound medical advice to ensure the health, safety and wellness of all the Big Ten’s students, coaches, administrators and fans.

This included people from a a very varied set of disciplines from across all campus healthcare systems and schools of public health. Their input served as a resource for the Big Ten conference when making important decisions. These decisions were always based on information received from local, state and federal health departments alongside the NCAA.

THE BIG TEN MENTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS CABINET

In May 4, 2020, the Big Ten conference announced the formation of the Big Ten Mental Health and Wellness Cabinet. This was made up of representatives from all 14 member schools. The goal is to promote optimal mental health for Big Ten student-athletes through a comprehensive, systemic and interdisciplinary approach. They aim to establish mental health programs and provide counsel, advice and expertise to the conference office.

THE BIG TEN EQUALITY COALITION

On June 1, 2020 the formation of what the Big Ten Equality Coalition occurred. This is a group consisting of: student-athletes, coaches, athletic directors, chancellors, presidents and other members of the Big Ten family from all 14 member schools. They have a stated goal which is to seek tangible ways to actively and constructively combat racism and hate around the world. They also want to empower student-athletes to express their rights to free speech and peaceful protest.

NOTE: The United States Library of Congress selected Warren’s open letter for inclusion in its historic collection.

BIG TEN STUDENT ATHLETE VOTERS 

As a product of the conversations emerging from the coalition, the Big Ten Voter Registration Initiative was created. This non-partisan, conference-wide collaboration encourages student-athletes to take part in the electoral process. It is led by a Voter Registration Committee that includes representatives from all 14 Big Ten schools.

NOTE: The Voter Registration Committee has partnered with the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to develop educational programming and outreach tools, and to collaborate with other established civic platforms.

BIG TEN NETWORK (BTN)

In 2006 the Big Ten conference announced the creation of the first conference-owned television network. They had a 20-year agreement with FOX Networks to create the Big Ten Network (BTN). The Big Ten Network launched on August 30, 2007 and now produces over 1,800 events across all platforms every year.

Around 60 million homes in the US and Canada can access the BTN via the nation’s major video providers and approximately 300 additional video providers. You can also access BTN through the majority of OTT providers and via the Fox Sports App. If you choose to use the app you can get live and on-demand programming to computers, smartphones and tablets.

NOTE: The BTN+ platform streams hundreds of events every season!

NETWORKS & THE BTN – MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Big Ten conference joined with Fox Sports to form the Big Ten Network which airs multiple sports but the men’s basketball rights were earned by CBS. ABC/ESPN secured the rights for a significant amount of additional games with CBS retaining the rights to top-tier men’s basketball rights with Fox earning the right to air several basketball games as well.The rights earned the Big Ten conference more than $2.6 billion.

In August, 2022, the Big Ten announced a media rights deal with Fox, CBS, NBC and Peacock. The deal is reportedly worth more than $7 billion per year, which is estimated to bring $80–$100 million per year to each member school. Now that’s impressive!

Fox/FS1 network will also broadcast 45 men’s basketball games in 2023–2024 and at least that many in the years to follow with a minimum of 126 men’s basketball games. Peacock, will air up to 47 men’s basketball games.  CBS will maintain the rights to several basketball games including the final rounds of the men’s tournaments.

NOTE: For the first time in 40 years, ESPN did not earn the rights to air any conference (August, 2022)

In June 2014, the Big Ten opened a second office in New York City which features both an office and meeting space in Midtown Manhattan. Big Ten staff members are based in the New York City office to provide expanded coverage and service. The other conference and institutional administrators use the space as necessary when conducting business on the East Coast. The Big Ten and its member schools also have access to satellite office space in Washington, D.C.

What is the Big Ten conference office for?

The conference office manages 27 different championships and tournaments. It does the legislative and compliance services as well as overseeing the production and distribution of more than 2,000 events every year. It also provides staff services to coaching and administrative staff, as is a vital resource for media and fans who are seeking information on the Big Ten.