Big Ten Conference

Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference logo
Established	1896
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I FBS
Members	12
Sports fielded	25 (men's: 12; women's: 13)
Region	Midwestern United States Mid-Atlantic United States (Penn State)
Former names	Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives Big Nine Western Conference
Headquarters	Park Ridge, Illinois
Commissioner	James Delany (since 1989)
Website	bigten.org
Locations
Big Ten Conference locations

The Big Ten Conference is an NCAA FBS conference comprised primarily of schools in the midwestern United States]], stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east, and from Indiana in the south to Minnesota in the north. The conference, formerly Western Conference and Big Nine Conference, is the United States' oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions (which are primarily flagship research universities in their respective states, well-regarded academically, and with relatively large student enrollment) are located primarily in the Midwestern United States. The conference competes in the NCAA's Division I; its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, the highest level of NCAA competition in that sport. Member schools of the Big Ten also are members of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), a leading educational consortium.

Despite the conference's name, the Big Ten actually consists of twelve schools, following the addition of Pennsylvania State University in 1993 and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2011. It is not to be confused with the Big 12 Conference, which has only ten schools and represents a different region of the country.

Members

Big Ten institutions are also, along with charter member the University of Chicago, part of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, which shares a $5.6 billion research fund.

Institution	Location (Population)	Founded	Joined Big Ten	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Varsity Teams	NCAA Championships (As of September 1, 2011) (excludes football)	Big Ten Championships (As of April 1, 2012)
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign	Urbana, Illinois (41,250) and Champaign, Illinois (81,055)	1867	1896	Public	41,918	Fighting Illini	Orange & Navy Blue	21	17	230
Indiana University	Bloomington, Indiana (80,405)	1820	1899 (Athletics 1900)	Public	42,464	Hoosiers	Cream & Crimson	24	23	163
University of Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa (67,062)	1847	1899 (Athletics 1900)	Public	30,893	Hawkeyes	Black & Gold	24	25	105
University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, Michigan (114,024)	1817	1896 (Inactive 1907–1916)	Public	37,197	Wolverines	Maize & Blue	27	33	351
Michigan State University	East Lansing, Michigan (48,579)	1855	1950 (Athletics 1953)	Public	43,159	Spartans	Green & White	25	19	84
University of Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minnesota (388,020)	1851	1896	Public	52,557	Golden Gophers	Maroon & Gold	23	21	178
University of Nebraska–Lincoln	Lincoln, Nebraska (251,624)	1869	2011	Public	24,593	Cornhuskers	Scarlet & Cream	21	23	3
Northwestern University	Evanston, Illinois (74,239)	1851	1896	Private	14,988	Wildcats	Purple & White	19	7	69
Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio (787,033)	1870	1912	Public	56,064	Buckeyes	Scarlet & Gray	35	21	185
Pennsylvania State University	University Park, Pennsylvania (38,420)	1855	1990 (Athletics 1993)	Public	44,817	Nittany Lions	Blue & White	29	38	57
Purdue University	West Lafayette, Indiana (28,778)	1869	1896	Public	39,637	Boilermakers	Old Gold & Black	18	3	69
University of Wisconsin–Madison	Madison, Wisconsin (223,389)	1848	1896	Public	42,595	Badgers	Cardinal & White	23	28	183

Former member

Institution	Location	Founded	Member of Big Ten	Type	Undergrad Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Varsity Teams	NCAA Championships (as a member)	Big Ten Championships
University of Chicago	Chicago, Illinois 2,695,598	1890	1896–1946	Private	5,027	Maroons	Maroon & White	19	1	73

• The University of Chicago was a co-founder of the conference and still maintains affiliation through the Committee on Institutional Cooperation.
• Lake Forest College attended the original 1895 meeting that led to the formation of the conference, but did not join it.

Endowments

Conference Rank	National Rank	Institution	Location	Endowment Funds	Percentage Change YOY
1	7	University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, Michigan	$7,834,752,000	19.4%
2	9	Northwestern University	Evanston, Illinois	$7,182,745,000	20.8%
3	27	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minnesota	$2,503,305,000	14.0%
4	31	The Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	$2,120,714,000	13.4%
5	32	Purdue University	West Lafayette, Indiana	$2,001,601,000	22.6%
6	34	University of Wisconsin	Madison, Wisconsin	$1,872,933,000	20.7%
7	39	The Pennsylvania State University	State College, Pennsylvania	$1,725,138,000	26.1%
8	45	University of Illinois	Champaign, Illinois	$1,600,603,000	24.1%
9	47	Indiana University	Bloomington, Indiana	$1,574,815,000	14.9%
10	54	Michigan State University	East Lansing, Michigan	$1,400,380,000	22.0%
11	58	University of Nebraska	Lincoln, Nebraska	$1,241,577,000	8.6%
12	72	University of Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa	$1,044,097,000	31.9%

• Data provided by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund Institute as of March 12, 2012.

Membership timeline

Sports

The Big Ten currently sponsors 25 sports and will be adding a 26th sport in 2013-14:

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Men's sports

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cross country
• Football
• Golf
• Gymnastics
• Ice hockey (starting in 2013–14)
• Indoor track
• Soccer
• Swimming & diving
• Tennis
• Outdoor track
• Wrestling

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Women's sports

• Basketball
• Cross country
• Field hockey
• Golf
• Gymnastics
• Indoor track
• Rowing
• Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming & diving
• Tennis
• Outdoor track
• Volleyball

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History

Initiated and led by Purdue University president James Smart , the presidents of University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University, Purdue University and Lake Forest College met in Chicago on January 11, 1895 to discuss the regulation and control of intercollegiate athletics. The eligibility of student-athletes was one of the main topics of discussion. The Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives was founded at a second meeting on February 8, 1896. Lake Forest was not at the 1896 meeting that established the conference and was replaced by the University of Michigan. At the time, the organization was more commonly known as the Western Conference, consisting of Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Chicago, and Northwestern.

The first reference to the conference as the Big Nine was in 1899 after Iowa and Indiana had joined. Nebraska first petitioned to join the league in 1900 and again in 1911, but was turned away both times. In January 1908, Michigan was voted out of the conference for failing to adhere to league rules. Ohio State was added to the conference in 1912. The first reference to the conference as the Big Ten was in November 1917 after Michigan rejoined following a nine-year absence.

File:Big Ten Conference Logo.svg

Big Ten logo (1990–2011). To reflect the addition of the 11th school, Penn State, the number 11 was disguised in the negative space of the "Big Ten" lettering.

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. Chicago discontinued its football program in 1939 and withdrew from the conference in 1946 after struggling to gain victories in many conference matchups. It was believed that one of several schools, notably Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Michigan State, Marquette, Notre Dame, and Iowa State would replace Chicago at the time. On May 20, 1949, Michigan State ended the speculation by joining and the conference was again known as the Big Ten. 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. In 1990, the Big Ten universities voted to expand the conference to 11 teams, and extended an invitation to Penn State, which accepted it. When Penn State joined in 1990, it was decided that the conference would continue to be called the Big Ten, but its logo was modified to reflect the change; the number 11 is disguised in the negative space of the traditionally blue "Big Ten" lettering.

Missouri had shown interest in Big Ten membership after Penn State joined. Around 1993, the league explored adding Kansas, Missouri, and Rutgers, or other potential schools, to create a 14-team league with two divisions. These talks died when the Big 8 Conference merged with former Southwest Conference members to create the Big 12.

File:BigTenLocations3.png

Locations of the Big Ten member institutions

Following the addition of previously independent Penn State, efforts were made to encourage the University of Notre Dame, the last remaining non-service academy independent, to join the league. Early in the 20th century, Notre Dame briefly considered official entry into the Big Ten but chose to maintain its independence instead. However, in 1999, both Notre Dame and the Big Ten entered into private negotiations concerning a possible membership that would include Notre Dame. Although the Notre Dame faculty senate endorsed the idea with a near unanimous vote, the ND board of trustees decided against joining the conference and Notre Dame ultimately withdrew from negotiations. [1]

In December 2009 Big Ten Conference commissioner Jim Delany announced that the league was looking to expand in what would later be part of a nationwide trend as part of the 2010–12 NCAA conference realignment. On June 11, 2010 the University of Nebraska applied for membership in the Big Ten and was unanimously approved as the conference's 12th school, which became effective July 1, 2011. The conference retained the name "Big Ten".

On September 1, Delany revealed the conference's divisional split and announced the new division names on December 13, 2010: Legends and Leaders. The new "Legends" and "Leaders" names were not met with enthusiasm. Some traditional rivals, including Northwestern and Illinois, were placed in separate divisions. For the football season, each team plays the others in its division, one "cross-over" game, and two rotating cross-divisional games.

Commissioners

The office of the commissioner of athletics was created in 1922 "to study athletic problems of the various member universities and assist in enforcing the eligibility rules which govern Big Ten athletics."

Name	Years	Notes
John L. Griffith	1922–1944	died in office
Kenneth L. "Tug" Wilson	1945–1961	retired
William R. Reed	1961–1971	died in office
Wayne Duke	1971–1989	retired
James Delany	1989–

Teams

Team	Location	Stadium
Illinois Fighting Illini	Champaign, Illinois	Memorial Stadium
Indiana Hoosiers	Bloomington, Indiana	Memorial Stadium
Iowa Hawkeyes	Iowa City, Iowa	Kinnick Stadium
Michigan Wolverines	Ann Arbor, Michigan	Michigan Stadium
Michigan State Spartans	East Lansing, Michigan	Spartan Stadium
Minnesota Golden Gophers	Minneapolis, Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium
Nebraska Cornhuskers	Lincoln, Nebraska	Memorial Stadium
Northwestern Wildcats	Evanston, Illinois	Ryan Field
Ohio State Buckeyes	Columbus, Ohio	Ohio Stadium
Penn State Nittany Lions	University Park, Pennsylvania	Beaver Stadium
Purdue Boilermakers	West Lafayette, Indiana	Ross-Ade Stadium
Wisconsin Badgers	Madison, Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium

Seasons

• 2011 season

Big Ten Championship Game

With the addition of Nebraska to the Big Ten Conference beginning in the 2011 season, the Big Ten Conference announced on August 05, 2010, that the inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game will be held at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Bowl games

Since 1946, the Big Ten champion has had a tie-in with the Rose Bowl game, now a BCS bowl. The Big Ten also has tie-ins with seven non-BCS bowls.

Pick	Name	Location	Opposing Conference
1	Rose Bowl	Pasadena, California	Pac-12 No. 1 or BCS
2	Capital One Bowl	Orlando, Florida	SEC No. 2
3	Outback Bowl	Tampa, Florida	SEC No. 3/4
4/5	Gator Bowl	Jacksonville, Florida	SEC No. 6
4/5	Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl	Tempe, Arizona	Big 12 No. 4
6	Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas	Houston, Texas	Big 12 No. 6
7	Heart of Dallas Bowl	Dallas, Texas	Big 12 No. 8
8	Little Caesars Pizza Bowl	Detroit, Michigan	MAC No. 1/2

Michigan appeared in the first bowl game, the 1902 Rose Bowl. After that, the Big Ten did not allow their schools to participate in bowl games, until the agreement struck with the Pacific Coast Conference for the 1947 Rose Bowl. From 1946 through 1971, the Big Ten did not allow the same team to represent the conference in consecutive years in the Rose Bowl with an exception made after the 1961 season in which Minnesota played in the 1962 Rose Bowl after playing in the 1961 Rose Bowl due to Ohio State declining the bid because of Ohio State faculty concerns about academics. It was not until the 1975 season that the Big Ten allowed teams to play in bowl games other than the Rose Bowl. Due to those rules, Big Ten powers such as Michigan and Ohio State have lower numbers of all-time bowl appearances than powerhouse teams from the Big 12 Conference (formerly the Big 8 Conference, with some former members of the Southwest Conference) and Southeastern Conference, which always placed multiple teams in bowl games every year.

Bowl selection procedures

Although the pick order usually corresponds to the conference standings, the bowls are not required to make their choices strictly according to the won-lost records; many factors influence bowl selections, especially the turnout of the fans for past bowl games. Picks are made after BCS selections; the bowl with the #2 pick will have the first pick of the remaining teams in the conference.

The Capital One, Outback, and Gator Bowls can select any eligible team except a team that has two fewer wins or two more losses than another eligible team. The Insight, Dallas Classic, Texas and Motor City Bowls have no such restrictions, However, the bowls cannot select a 6-6 team if a 7-5 or better team is not selected by a Big Ten-affiliated bowl.

Marching bands

Big Ten football games are also well known for the participation and excellence of the Big Ten Conference universities' marching bands. All Big Ten Conference marching bands march variations of the signature Big Ten high step, sometimes referred to as the "chair step." Nine of the eleven participating Big Ten Conference universities, as well as future member Nebraska, have won the Sudler Trophy, the most prestigious award a collegiate marching band can receive. The first three trophies were all awarded to Big Ten conference members, and the Big Ten boasts more Sudler Trophy award winners than any other conference.

During the pre-game show performance, the Big Ten marching bands have the tradition of playing the opposing team's fight song. Purdue University's "All-American" Marching Band was the first school in history to play their opponent's fight song.

Divisions

On September 1, 2010 the Big Ten announced the football divisions that will be used when Nebraska moves from the Big 12 Conference. The names are provisionally "Legends" and "Leaders" and they are grouped based on program strength and competitive balance. As reported by Commissioner James Delany, each team will play each team in its division every year, one "cross-over" game every year, and two rotating cross-divisional games. This is the same type of schedule the SEC and ACC play, differentiating from the Big 12 and what the expanded Pac-10 is planning. The following table shows the permanent inter-divisional opponent for each school (records through the completion of the 2011 season) with Legends wins listed first.

Legends	Leaders	Series Record
Michigan	Ohio State	58–44–6
Nebraska	Penn State	7–7–0
Iowa	Purdue	34–45–3
Michigan State	Indiana	41–15–2
Northwestern	Illinois	46–54–5
Minnesota	Wisconsin	59–54–8
Overall Inter-Divisional Record		245–219–24