Big Ten Conference

"Big Ten" redirects here. For other uses, see Big Ten (disambiguation).

Big Ten Conference

Formerly	Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives (officially, 1896–1987) Western Conference (1896–1899) Big Nine (1899–1917, 1946–1950)
Association	NCAA
Founded	1896;127 years ago (1896)
Commissioner	Vacant
Sports fielded	28 men's: 14 women's: 14
Division	Division I
Subdivision	FBS
No. of teams	14 + 2 affiliate members (2 future members in 2024)
Headquarters	Rosemont, Illinois
Region	Midwest East North Central West North Central Northeast Mid-Atlantic Western (starting in 2024) Pacific (starting in 2024)
Official website	bigten.org
Locations

Big Ten Conference (Midwest and Mid-Atlantic)

[Interactive fullscreen map]

Location of B1G members: full and affiliate.

Big Ten Conference (Los Angeles, CA)

[Interactive fullscreen map]

Location of B1G members: future.

The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1896, it predates the founding of its regulating organization, the NCAA. It is based in the Chicago area in Rosemont, Illinois. For many decades the conference consisted of 10 universities. As of 2014 ^[update] , it consists of 14 member institutions and 2 affiliate institutions, with 2 new member institutions scheduled to join in 2024. ^{[1] [2]} The conference competes in the NCAA Division I and 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.

Big Ten member institutions are major research universities with large financial endowments and strong academic reputations. A large student body is a hallmark of its universities, as 12 of the 14 members enroll more than 30,000 students. They are all state public universities except founding member Northwestern University as the lone private university, but will be joined by private University of Southern California at the beginning of the 2024–25 collegiate athletic year. Collectively, Big Ten universities educate more than 520,000 total students and have 5.7 million living alumni. ^[1] The members engage in $9.3 billion in funded research each year; ^[2] 13 out of 14 are members of the Association of American Universities (University of Nebraska is the exception) and all are members of the Universities Research Association (URA). All Big Ten universities are also members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, formerly the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. ^[3]

Though the Big Ten existed for nearly a century based in the Midwest, since 2014 the conference's geographic footprint stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Plains and in 2024 will extend to the Pacific Ocean. The conference has maintained its historic name while expanding to 14 members and 2 affiliate members. ^[4]

Member schools

Current full members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Endowment (millions)	Nickname	Colors
East Division
Indiana University Bloomington	Bloomington, Indiana	1820	1899 [lower-alpha 1]	Public	42,552	$3,317	Hoosiers
University of Maryland, College Park	College Park, Maryland	1856	2014	Public (land-grant)	40,709	$1,993	Terrapins
University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, Michigan	1817	1896, 1917 [lower-alpha 2]	Public	47,907	$17,022	Wolverines
Michigan State University	East Lansing, Michigan	1855	1950 [lower-alpha 3]	Public (land-grant)	49,695	$3,926	Spartans
Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	1870	1912		61,369	$6,814	Buckeyes
Pennsylvania State University	University Park, Pennsylvania	1855	1990 [lower-alpha 4]		45,901	$4,613	Nittany Lions
Rutgers University–New Brunswick	New Brunswick–Piscataway, New Jersey	1766	2014		50,411	$2,000	Scarlet Knights
West Division
University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign	Urbana-Champaign, Illinois	1867	1896	Public (land-grant)	52,331	$3,380	Fighting Illini
University of Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa	1847	1899 [lower-alpha 5]	Public	30,448	$3,137	Hawkeyes
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities	Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota	1851	1896	Public (land-grant)	52,017	$5,443	Golden Gophers
University of Nebraska–Lincoln	Lincoln, Nebraska	1869	2011		25,057	$2,310	Cornhuskers
Northwestern University	Evanston, Illinois	1851	1896	Private not-for-profit (non-sectarian)	22,316	$14,958	Wildcats
Purdue University	West Lafayette, Indiana	1869		Public (land-grant)	45,869	$3,584	Boilermakers
University of Wisconsin–Madison	Madison, Wisconsin	1848			47,935	$3,981	Badgers

Notes

1. Athletic teams started competing in the conference effective the 1900–01 school year.
2. In April 1907, Michigan was voted out of the conference for refusing to adhere to league rules limiting football teams to no more than five games and players to three years of eligibility. Consequently, its athletic teams were independent from 1907–08 to 1916–17.
3. Athletic teams started competing in the conference effective the 1953–54 school year.
4. Athletic teams started competing in the conference effective the 1991–92 school year.
5. Athletic teams started competing in the conference effective the 1900–01 school year.

Future members

On June 30, 2022, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California (USC) announced plans to withdraw from the Pac-12 Conference to join the Big Ten in 2024 as full members. ^{[5] [6]}

Institution	Location	Founded	Join Date	Type	Enrollment	Endowment (millions)	Nickname	Colors	Existing affiliation
University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, California	1919	2024	Public (land-grant)	45,900	$3,892	Bruins		Pac-12
University of Southern California		1880		Private not-for-profit (non-sectarian)	49,500	$8,120	Trojans

Associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Big Ten sport(s)	Primary conference
Johns Hopkins University	Baltimore, Maryland	1876	2014–15	Private not-for-profit (Non-sectarian)	29,094	Blue Jays		men's lacrosse [lower-alpha 1]	Centennial (NCAA D-III)
								women's lacrosse [lower-alpha 2]
University of Notre Dame	Notre Dame, Indiana	1842	2017–18	Private not-for-profit (Catholic)	12,472	Fighting Irish		men's ice hockey	ACC

Notes

1. On July 1, 2014, Johns Hopkins University joined the conference as an associate member in men's lacrosse.
2. On July 1, 2016, Johns Hopkins University became an associate member in women's lacrosse.

Former member ^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Recent conference
University of Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	1890	1896	1946 [lower-alpha 2]	Private not-for-profit (Non-sectarian)	17,470	Maroons		UAA (NCAA D-III)

Notes

1. Lake Forest College attended the original 1895 meeting that led to the formation of the conference, but never participated in athletics or any other activities.
2. The University of Chicago was a co-founder of the conference. The school dropped football after the 1939 fall season (1939–40 school year), but remained a member in other sports until the end of the 1945–46 academic year. ^[7]

Membership timeline

Full membersFull members (non-football)Sport affiliateOther conferenceOther conference

Sports

The Big Ten Conference sponsors championship competition in 14 men's and 14 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. ^[8]

Teams in Big Ten Conference competition

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	13	—
Basketball	14	14
Cross country	12	14
Field hockey	—	9
Football	14	—
Golf	14	14
Gymnastics	5	10
Ice hockey	7	—
Lacrosse	6	7
Rowing	—	8
Soccer	9	14
Softball	—	14
Swimming & diving	10	13
Tennis	12	14
Track and field (indoor)	12	13
Track and field (outdoor)	13	13
Volleyball	—	14
Wrestling	14	—

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Base­ball	Basket­ball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Gym­nastics	Ice hockey	Lac­rosse	Soccer	Swimming & diving	Tennis	Track & field (indoor)	Track & field (outdoor)	Wrest­ling	Total
Illinois	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Indiana	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Iowa	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Maryland	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	8
Michigan	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	14
Michigan State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Minnesota	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	9
Nebraska	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Northwestern	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	8
Ohio State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	14
Penn State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	14
Purdue	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Rutgers	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	10
Wisconsin	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Totals	13	14	12	14	14	5	6+1*	5+1°	9	8	10	11	13	14	148+2
Associate Members
Johns Hopkins								Y							1
Notre Dame							Y								1
Future members
UCLA	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	9
USC	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	8

Notes:

* Notre Dame joined the Big Ten in the 2017–18 school year as an affiliate member in men's ice hockey. ^[9] It continues to field its other sports in the ACC except in football where it will continue to compete as an independent.

° Johns Hopkins joined the Big Ten in 2014 as an affiliate member in men's lacrosse, with women's lacrosse following in 2016. It continues to field its other sports in the NCAA Division III Centennial Conference. ^[10]

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Big Ten Conference that are played by Big Ten schools

School	Fencing [lower-alpha 1]	Lightweight rowing [lower-alpha 2]	Pistol [lower-alpha 3]	Rifle [lower-alpha 4]	Rowing [lower-alpha 2]	Volleyball	Water polo
Ohio State	Independent	N	Independent	PRC	N	MIVA	N
Penn State	Independent	N	N	N	N	EIVA	N
Rutgers	N	EARC	N	N	EARC	N	N
Wisconsin	N	N	N	N	EARC	N	N
Future Members
UCLA	N	N	N	N	N	MPSF	MPSF
USC	N	N	N	N	N	MPSF	MPSF

1. Fencing is officially a coeducational team sport, although a few schools field only a women's team. Ohio State and Penn State, like most NCAA fencing schools, have coed teams.
2. Men's rowing, whether heavyweight or lightweight, is not governed by the NCAA, but instead by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. Rutgers Men's Rowing was downgraded to Club status in 2008, but remains a member of the EARC.
3. Unlike rifle, pistol is not an NCAA-governed sport. It is fully coeducational.
4. Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. Ohio State fields a coed team.

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basket­ball	Cross-country	Field hockey	Golf	Gym­nastics	Lacrosse	Rowing	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & diving	Tennis	Track & field (indoor)	Track & field (outdoor)	Volley­ball	Total
Illinois	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Indiana	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Iowa	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	13
Maryland	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Michigan	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	14
Michigan State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Minnesota	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Nebraska	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Northwestern	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	10
Ohio State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	14
Penn State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	13
Purdue	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Rutgers	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	14
Wisconsin	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Totals	14	14	9	14	10	6+1 [c 1]	8	14	14	12	14	13	13	14	172+1
Associate Members
Johns Hopkins						Y
Future Members
UCLA	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
USC	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11

Notes

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Big Ten Conference that are played by Big Ten schools

School	Bowling	Fencing [lower-alpha 1]	Ice hockey	Lightweight rowing [lower-alpha 2]	Pistol [lower-alpha 3]	Rifle [lower-alpha 4]	Synchronized swimming [lower-alpha 5]	Water polo	Beach volleyball	Wrestling [lower-alpha 6]
Indiana	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	MPSF	N	N
Iowa	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	[lower-alpha 7]
Michigan	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	CWPA	N	N
Minnesota	N	N	WCHA	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Nebraska	Independent	N	N	N	N	GARC	N	N	Independent	N
Northwestern	N	Independent	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Ohio State	N	Independent	WCHA	N	Independent	PRC	Independent	N	N	N
Penn State	N	Independent	CHA	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Rutgers	N	N	N	EARC	N	N	N	N	N	N
Wisconsin	N	N	WCHA	EARC	N	N	N	N	N	N
Future members
UCLA	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	MPSF	Pac-12 [lower-alpha 8]	N
USC	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	MPSF	Pac-12 [lower-alpha 8]	N

1. Fencing is officially a coeducational team sport, but all bouts involve members of the same sex. Most NCAA fencing schools field both men's and women's squads, although a few schools field only a women's squad. Ohio State and Penn State have both men's and women's squads, while Northwestern fields only a women's squad.
2. The only category of rowing that the NCAA governs is women's heavyweight rowing. Women's lightweight rowing, as with all men's rowing, is governed by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association.
3. Unlike rifle, pistol is not an NCAA-governed sport. It is fully coeducational.
4. Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. Nebraska fields a women-only team, and Ohio State fields a coed team.
5. Synchronized swimming is not governed by the NCAA. Collegiate competition is governed by United States Synchronized Swimming, the sport's national governing body.
6. Women's wrestling is part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program. NCAA-recognized competition is governed by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
7. Iowa will add women's wrestling in the 2023–24 school year. ^[11]
8. UCLA and USC have not announced future conference affiliation for beach volleyball.

History

In an initiative led by Purdue University president James Henry Smart, ^[12] he and the presidents of the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, Northwestern 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. ^[13] The Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives was founded at a second meeting on February 8, 1896. ^[14] Lake Forest was not at the 1896 meeting and was replaced by the University of Michigan. At the time, the organization was more commonly known as the Western Conference, consisting of Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Chicago, Purdue, 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, ^[15] but was turned away both times. In April 1907, Michigan was voted out of the conference for refusing to adhere to league rules limiting football teams to no more than five games and players to three years of eligibility. ^[16] Ohio State was added to the conference in 1912. The first known references to the conference as the Big Ten were in December 1916, when Michigan rejoined the conference after a nine-year absence. ^{[17] [18]}

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. In 1939 UChicago President Robert Maynard Hutchins made the decision to abolish the football program, based on his negative views of big-time college football’s excesses and associated problems of the time. ^[19] and withdrew from the conference in 1946 after struggling to obtain victories in many conference matchups. It was believed that one of several schools, notably Iowa State, Marquette, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh would replace Chicago at the time. ^[20] On May 20, 1949, ^[14] 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.

Early history

As intercollegiate football rapidly increased during the 1890s, so did the ruthless nature of the game. Tempers flared, fights erupted, and injuries soared. Between 1880 and 1905, college football players suffered more than 325 deaths and 1,149 injuries. To deal with mounting criticism of the game, President James H. Smart of Purdue University invited representatives from the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, and University of Wisconsin to a Chicago meeting to create policies aimed at regulating intercollegiate athletics. These schools were the original seven members. In 1899, Indiana University and the University of Iowa joined the conference to increase the membership to nine schools. Ohio State University joined in 1912 and Michigan State University joined in 1948. In 1905, the conference was officially incorporated as the "Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives". ^[12] The conference is one of the nation's oldest, predating the founding of the NCAA by a decade and was one of the first collegiate conferences to sponsor men's basketball. The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association was also established in 1895; its successor, the Southern Conference, eventually spawned the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

1990 expansion: Penn State

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

In 1990, the Big Ten universities voted to expand the conference to 11 teams and extended an invitation to Atlantic 10 member and football independent Pennsylvania State University, which accepted it. ^[21] When Penn State joined in 1990, it was decided the conference would continue to be called the Big Ten, but its logo was modified to reflect the change; the number 11 was disguised in the negative space of the traditionally blue "Big Ten" lettering.

Missouri showed interest in Big Ten membership after Penn State joined. ^[22] Around 1993, the league explored adding Kansas, Missouri and Rutgers or other potential schools, to create a 14-team league with two football divisions. ^[23] These talks died when the Big Eight Conference merged with former Southwest Conference members to create the Big 12.

Following the addition of Penn State, efforts were made to encourage the University of Notre Dame, at that time the last remaining non-service academy independent, to join the league. In 1999, Notre Dame and the Big Ten entered into private negotiations concerning a possible membership that would include Notre Dame. Although Notre Dame's faculty senate endorsed the idea with a near-unanimous vote, the school's board of trustees decided against joining the conference. ^[24] (In 1926, Notre Dame had briefly considered official entry into the Big Ten but chose to retain its independent status. ^[25] ) Notre Dame subsequently joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in all sports except football, in which Notre Dame maintains its independent status as long as it plays at least five games per season against ACC opponents. This was believed to be the major stumbling block to Notre Dame joining the Big Ten, as Notre Dame wanted to retain its independent home game broadcasting contract with NBC Sports, while the Big Ten insisted upon a full membership with no special exemptions.

2010–2014 expansion: Nebraska, Maryland, Rutgers

Main article: 2010–2014 Big Ten Conference realignment

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 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment. ^[26] 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. ^[27] The conference retained the name "Big Ten". This briefly led to the interesting and ironic result of the Big Ten consisting of twelve teams, and the Big 12 consisting of ten teams (with fellow former Big 12 member Colorado's move to the Pac-12 Conference).

Legends and Leaders divisions

On September 1, 2010, Delany revealed the conference's football divisional split, but noted that the division names would be announced later. Those division names, as well as the conference's new logo, were made public on December 13, 2010. For its new logo, the conference replaced the "hidden 11" logo with one that uses the "B1G" character combination in its branding. Delany did not comment on the logo that day, but it was immediately evident that the new logo would "allow fans to see 'BIG' and '10' in a single word." ^[28]

For the new football division names, the Big Ten was unable to use geographic names, because they had rejected a geographic arrangement. Delany announced that the new divisions would be known as the "Legends Division" and "Leaders Division". In the Legends division were Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern. The Leaders division was composed of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin. Conference officials stated they had focused on creating competitive fairness rather than splitting by geographical location. ^[29] However, the new "Legends" and "Leaders" divisions were not met with enthusiasm. Some traditional rivals, including Ohio State and Michigan, were placed in separate divisions. ^[30]

For the football season, each team played the others in its division, one "cross-over" rivalry game, and two rotating cross-divisional games. At the end of the regular season the two division winners met in a new Big Ten Football Championship Game. ^[31] The Legends and Leaders divisional alignment was in effect for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 football seasons.

West and East divisions

Big Ten Conference

[Interactive fullscreen map]

Location of Big Ten members: Full Member – East Division, Full Member – West Division, Future Members

On November 19, 2012, the University of Maryland's Board of Regents voted to withdraw from the ACC and join the Big Ten as its 13th member effective on July 1, 2014. ^[32] The Big Ten's Council of Presidents approved the move later that day. ^[33] One day later, Rutgers University of the Big East also accepted an offer for membership from the Big Ten as its 14th member school. ^[34]

On April 28, 2013, the Big Ten presidents and chancellors unanimously approved a football divisional realignment that went into effect when Maryland and Rutgers joined in 2014. ^[35] Under the new plan, the Legends and Leaders divisions were replaced with geographic divisions. ^[35] The West Division includes Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin (of which all but Purdue are in the Central Time Zone), while the East Division includes Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers (all of which are in the Eastern Time Zone). The final issue in determining the new divisions was which of the two Indiana schools would be sent to the West; Purdue was chosen because its West Lafayette campus is geographically west of Indiana's home city of Bloomington. ^[36] The divisional alignment permanently protected the cross-divisional football rivalry Indiana–Purdue. ^[35] As before, the two division winners play each other in the Big Ten Football Championship Game.

On June 3, 2013, the Big Ten announced the sponsorship of men's and women's lacrosse. For any conference to qualify for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, at least six member schools must play the sport. In women's lacrosse, the addition of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten brought the conference up to the requisite six participants, joining programs at Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State and Penn State. ^[37] In men's lacrosse, Ohio State and Penn State were the only existing participants. Coincident with the addition of Maryland and Rutgers, Michigan agreed to upgrade its successful club team to varsity status, giving the Big Ten five sponsoring schools, one short of the minimum six for an automatic bid. Johns Hopkins University opted to join the conference as its first affiliate member beginning in 2014. Johns Hopkins had been independent in men's lacrosse for 130 years, claiming 44 national championships. ^[38] As long-time independents joined conferences (for example, Syracuse joining the Atlantic Coast Conference), other schools competing as independents in some cases concluded that the inability to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament was becoming a more serious competitive disadvantage in scheduling and recruiting.

On March 23, 2016, the Big Ten Conference and Notre Dame announced the Fighting Irish would become a men's ice hockey affiliate beginning with the 2017–18 season. ^[39] Notre Dame had been a member of Hockey East, and the move saves travel time and renews rivalries with former CCHA and WCHA members.

The conference's headquarters in Rosemont, Illinois

In 2013, the conference moved its headquarters from its location in Park Ridge, Illinois to neighboring Rosemont. The office building is situated within Rosemont's MB Financial Entertainment District, alongside Interstate 294. ^{[40] [41] [42]}

UCLA and USC, future expansion

Main article: 2021–22 NCAA conference realignment

On June 30, 2022, UCLA and USC announced that they will be joining the Big Ten Conference effective August 2, 2024, enabling both schools to remain in the Pac-12 Conference for the duration of the Pac-12's existing media rights agreements. ^{[5] [6] [43] [44]}

In August 2022, the conference reached new media rights deals with CBS, Fox, and NBC totaled at an estimated $7 billion. ^{[45] [46] [47] [48]}

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." ^[13]

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
Jim Delany	1989–2020	retired
Kevin Warren	2020–2023	resigned to become president of the Chicago Bears
Vacant	2023–present

All Big Ten members are members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, formerly known as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. ^{[49] [50] [51]} The University of Chicago, a former Big Ten Conference member, was a member of the CIC from 1958 to June 29, 2016. ^{[52] [53] [54] [55]}

Schools ranked by revenue

The schools below are listed by conference rank of total revenue. Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights/licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, food and novelties. Total expenses includes coaching/staff, scholarships, buildings/ground, maintenance, utilities and rental fees and all other costs including recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues and insurance costs. Surplus (or deficit) is calculated using the total revenue and total expenses data provided by USA Today , individual institutions and the United States Department of Education. ^[56]

Institution	2019 Total Revenue from Athletics [57]	2019 Total Expenses on Athletics [57]	2019 Surplus/(Deficit)	2012 Average Spending per student-athlete [57]
Ohio State University	$210,548,239	$223,605,396	($13,057,157)	$158,901
University of Michigan	$197,820,410	$196,616,430	$1,203,980	$133,488
Pennsylvania State University	$164,529,326	$160,369,805	$4,159,521	Not reported
University of Wisconsin–Madison	$157,660,107	$154,621,828	$3,038,279	$116,487
University of Iowa	$151,976,026	$147,632,275	$3,343,751	$154,592
Michigan State University	$140,010,865	$135,655,740	$4,355,125	$120,356
University of Nebraska–Lincoln	$136,233,460	$134,713,519	$1,529,941	$128,182
University of Minnesota	$130,456,454	$129,450,256	$1,006,198	$102,980
Indiana University Bloomington	$127,832,628	$114,822,135	$13,010,493	$110,102
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign	$118,565,501	$120,168,951	($1,603,450)	$154,719
Purdue University	$110,844,907	$103,526,447	$7,318,460	$135,301
University of Maryland, College Park	$108,796,303	$108,785,924	$10,379	$113,706
Rutgers University–New Brunswick	$103,251,280	$103,167,344	$83,936	$104,638
Northwestern University	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Broadcasting and media rights

In 2006, the conference formed a dedicated cable network, Big Ten Network, in partnership with Fox Sports. The network carries coverage of Big Ten athletics (including events not carried by the Big Ten's other media partners), studio shows, as well as other original programs and documentaries profiling the conference and its members. ^[58] Commissioner Jim Delany began to explore the formation of a Big Ten-specific channel in 2004 after a failed attempt to seek a significantly larger rights fee from ESPN to renew its existing agreements; the impact of Big Ten Network also influenced the conference's expansion in the 2010's, with some of its newer members being located in proximity to major media markets such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C. (Maryland) and the New York metropolitan area (Rutgers). ^{[59] [60]}

On August 18, 2022, the Big Ten announced that it had reached seven-year broadcast rights deals with Fox, CBS, and for the first time, NBC Sports, beginning in the 2023–24 academic year, ending an association between the conference and ESPN dating back to the 1980s. A major goal for the new contracts was to establish specific broadcast windows for Big Ten football games across its three partners, with Fox, CBS, and NBC primarily holding rights to Noon ET, 3:30 p.m ET, and primetime games respectively. ^{[46] [47] [48]} The contracts were estimated to be worth at least $7 billion, ^{[61] [46]} but also reportedly includes an "escalator clause" that will raise the value of the contracts if the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were to specifically join the Big Ten. ^[62]

• Fox Sports:
  • 24 to 32 football games per season:
    • Will primarily air in a Noon ET window, but with the option for games in other windows after USC and UCLA join in 2024.
    • Rights to the Big Ten championship game in 2023, 2025, 2027, and 2029.
  • At least 45 men's basketball games per-season on Fox and FS1.
  • Selected women's basketball games and Olympic sport events.
• CBS Sports:
  • 14 to 15 football games per season on CBS and Paramount+:
    • Will primarily air in a 3:30 p.m. ET window beginning in 2024, once CBS's contract with the SEC expires (CBS will air seven games in other timeslots during the 2023 season).
    • Includes one Friday afternoon game on Thanksgiving weekend.
    • Rights to the Big Ten championship game in 2024 and 2028.
  • Up to 15 men's basketball games per-season:
    • Rights to the semi-finals and championship game of the Big Ten men's basketball tournament
    • Rights to the championship game of the Big Ten women's basketball tournament
• NBC Sports:
  • 14 to 16 football games per season on NBC and Peacock:
    • Games will primarily air in a primetime window on NBC
    • Eight games will stream exclusively on Peacock, including four intraconference games.
    • Rights to the Big Ten championship game in 2026
  • Up to 77 basketball games per-season on Peacock:
    • Up to 47 men's basketball games, including 32 intraconference games.
    • Up to 30 women's basketball games, including 20 intraconference games.
    • Rights to the opening night doubleheaders of the men's and women's basketball tournaments.
  • Up to 40 live Olympic sports events per-season on Peacock.
• Big Ten Network
  • Up to 50 football games per season
  • At least 126 men's basketball games per season
    • Second round and quarter-final games of the Big Ten men's basketball tournament
  • At least 40 women's basketball games per season
    • Coverage of the Big Ten women's basketball tournament (outside of the championship game)
  • Coverage of Olympic sports events.

Awards and honors

Big Ten Athlete of the Year

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

Big Ten Medal of Honor (annual; at each school; one male scholar-athlete and one female scholar-athlete) ^[63]

• Big Ten Sportsmanship Award (annual; at each school; one male student-athlete and one female student-athlete) ^[64]

NACDA Learfield Sports Directors' Cup rankings

The NACDA Learfield Sports Directors' Cup is an annual award given by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the U.S. colleges and universities with the most success in collegiate athletics. Big Ten universities typically finish ranked in the top-50 of the final Directors' Cup annual rankings.

Institution	2021– 22	2020– 21	2019– 20	2018– 19	2017– 18	2016– 17	2015– 16	2014– 15	2013– 14	2012– 13	10-yr Average
Illinois Fighting Illini	52	47	N/A	43	36	38	54	31	47	31	42
Indiana Hoosiers	64	34	N/A	32	52	47	41	61	36	32	44
Iowa Hawkeyes	55	30	N/A	38	51	52	62	44	78	65	53
Maryland Terrapins	46	46	N/A	40	50	49	59	33	32	44	44
Michigan Wolverines	3	3	N/A	2	5	4	3	19	13	4	6
Michigan State Spartans	41	61	N/A	47	48	50	53	34	29	30	43
Minnesota Golden Gophers	28	28	N/A	20	19	30	18	26	21	22	24
Nebraska Cornhuskers	49	35	N/A	48	31	38	27	39	23	24	35
Northwestern Wildcats	36	31	N/A	45	31	36	50	50	50	40	35
Ohio State Buckeyes	4	9	N/A	12	6	2	2	7	25	16	9
Penn State Nittany Lions	43	39	N/A	13	10	7	20	8	5	6	17
Purdue Boilermakers	53	38	N/A	55	41	41	45	60	48	42	47
Rutgers Scarlet Knights	48	60	N/A	82	103	113	83	104	91	120	89
Wisconsin Badgers	24	37	N/A	16	22	16	27	18	18	29	23

University	Top 10 rankings
Michigan	22
Ohio State	14
Penn State	9
Nebraska	5
Minnesota	1

2021–22 Capital One Cup standings

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.

Institution	Men's Ranking	Women's Ranking
Illinois	78	NR
Indiana	69	74
Iowa	58	57
Maryland	3	9
Michigan	2	13
Michigan State	61	85
Minnesota	64	22
Nebraska	47	11
Northwestern	78	11
Ohio State	17	21
Penn State	21	70
Purdue	88	37
Rutgers	29	15
Wisconsin	NR	5

Conference records

For Big Ten records, by sport (not including football), see footnote ^[65]

NCAA national titles

Totals are per NCAA annual list published every July ^[66] and NCAA-published gymnastics history, ^[67] with subsequent results as of June 30, 2021, obtained from NCAA.org , which provides intermittent updates throughout the year.

Excluded from this list are all national championships earned outside the scope of NCAA competition, including Division I FBS football titles, women's AIAW championships (17) and retroactive Helms Athletic Foundation titles.

Future conference members in grey.

Institution	Total	Men's	Women's	Co-ed	Nickname	Most successful sport (Titles)
University of California, Los Angeles	120	76	44	0	Bruins	Men’s volleyball (19)
University of Southern California	111	85	26	0	Trojans	Men’s Outdoor Track and Field (26)
Pennsylvania State University	53	29	11	13	Nittany Lions	Fencing (14)
University of Michigan	39 [68] [67]	36	3	0	Wolverines	Men's swimming (12) (plus 7 unofficial titles)
University of Maryland	32	9	23	0	Terrapins	Women's lacrosse (14)
Ohio State University	31	24	4	3	Buckeyes	Men's swimming (11)
University of Wisconsin	31	22	9	0	Badgers	Men's boxing (8) (including 4 unofficial titles)
University of Iowa	25	24	1	0	Hawkeyes	Men's wrestling (24)
Indiana University	24	24	0	0	Hoosiers	Men's soccer (8)
Michigan State University	20	19	1	0	Spartans	Men's cross country (8)
University of Minnesota	19	13	6	0	Golden Gophers	Women's ice hockey (6)
University of Nebraska	19	8	11	0	Cornhuskers	Men's gymnastics (8)
University of Illinois	18	18	0	0	Fighting Illini	Men's gymnastics (10)
Northwestern University	9	1	8	0	Wildcats	Women's lacrosse (7)
Purdue University	3	1	2	0	Boilermakers	Men's golf (1), Women's golf (1), Women's basketball (1)
Rutgers University	1	1	0	0	Scarlet Knights	Fencing (1)
Total	312	221	75	16

See also: List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships and List of NCAA schools with the most Division I national championships

Conference titles

For Big Ten championships, by year, see footnote. ^[69] Totals do not include Big Ten tournament championships.

Institution	# of [70]
University of Chicago 7	73
University of Illinois	250
Indiana University	183
University of Iowa	117
University of Maryland 2	29
University of Michigan	409
Michigan State University	110
University of Minnesota	178
University of Nebraska 3	16
Northwestern University	81
University of Notre Dame 4	1
Ohio State University	248
Pennsylvania State University 5	92
Purdue University	83
Rutgers University 6	3
Johns Hopkins University 1	1
University of Wisconsin	209

1. ^ Johns Hopkins was added in 2014 as an associate member that competed in men's lacrosse only. Johns Hopkins also began competing as an associate member in women's lacrosse in the 2016–17 school year.
2. ^ Maryland won 196 conference championships as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), second most in ACC history.
3. ^ Nebraska won 80 conference championships as a member of the Big 12 Conference, second most in Big 12 history. Nebraska also won 230 conference championships as a member of the Big Eight Conference, the most in Big Eight history.
4. ^ Notre Dame was added in 2017 as an associate member that competed in men's ice hockey only.
5. ^ Penn State won or shared 70 conference championships as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference (1982–91) and earlier when it was known as the Eastern 8 Conference (1976–79).
6. ^ Rutgers won six conference championships as a member of the Middle Three Conference, the Middle Atlantic Conference, the Atlantic 10 Conference, the original Big East Conference, and both of its offshoots, the non-football Big East Conference and the American Athletic Conference.
7. ^ Chicago won 73 conference championships as a member of the Big Ten from 1896 to 1946.

2022–2023 champions

Sport	Champion	Tournament champion
Men's cross country	Wisconsin (2022)	—
Women's cross country	Michigan State (2022)	—
Field hockey	Maryland & Penn State (2022)	Michigan (2022)
Football	Michigan (2022)	—
Men's soccer	Maryland (2022)	Rutgers (2022)
Women's soccer	Michigan State (2022)	Penn State (2022)
Women's volleyball	Wisconsin (2022)	—
Women's swimming and diving	Ohio State (2023)	—
Men's indoor track and field	Wisconsin (2023)	—
Women's indoor track and field	Michigan (2023)	—
Men's swimming and diving	Indiana (2023)	—
Women's basketball	Indiana (2023)	Iowa (2023)
Wrestling	‡ Penn State (2023)	Penn State (2023)
Men's basketball	Purdue (2023)	Purdue (2023)
Men's ice hockey	Minnesota (2023)	Michigan (2023)
Women’s ice hockey	Ohio State (2023)	Minnesota (2023)
Women's gymnastics	Michigan & Michigan State (2023)	Michigan (2023)
Men's gymnastics	Michigan (2023)	Michigan (2022)
Women's tennis	Ohio State (2022)	Michigan (2022)
Men's tennis	Ohio State (2022)	Michigan (2022)
Women's golf	Michigan (2022)	—
Men's golf	Illinois (2022)	—
Women's lacrosse	Maryland (2022)	Maryland (2022)
Men's lacrosse	‡ Maryland (2022)	Maryland (2022)
Softball	Northwestern (2022)	Nebraska (2022)
Men's outdoor track and field	Ohio State (2022)	—
Women's outdoor track and field	Ohio State (2022)	—
Women's rowing	Ohio State (2022)	—
Baseball	Maryland (2022)	Michigan (2022)

‡ Denotes national champion

Football

See also: List of Big Ten Conference football standings (1959–present) and 2022 Big Ten Conference football season

When Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014, the division names were changed to "East" and "West", with Purdue and the six schools in the Central Time Zone in the West and Indiana joining the remaining six Eastern Time Zone schools in the East. The only protected cross-division game is Indiana–Purdue. Beginning in 2016, the Big Ten adopted a nine-game conference schedule. ^{[36] [71]} All teams have one cross-division opponent they play annually that changes every six years except for Indiana and Purdue, whose crossover is permanent. The other six opponents are played every three years during that cycle. For 2016–2021, the pairings are Maryland-Minnesota, Michigan-Wisconsin, Michigan State-Northwestern, Ohio State-Nebraska, Penn State-Iowa, and Rutgers-Illinois, and for 2022-2027 the pairings are Maryland-Northwestern, Michigan-Nebraska, Michigan State-Minnesota, Ohio State-Wisconsin, Penn State-Illinois, and Rutgers-Iowa. ^[72] In 2016, the Big Ten no longer allowed its members to play Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams and also requires at least one non-conference game against a school in the Power Five conferences (ACC, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC). Contracts for future games already scheduled against FCS teams would be honored. However, in 2017, the Big Ten started to allow teams to schedule an FCS opponent during years in which they only have four conference home games (odd-numbered years for East division teams, even-numbered years for West division teams). ^[73] At the time this policy was first announced, games against FBS independents Notre Dame and BYU would automatically count toward the Power Five requirement. ^[74] ESPN, citing a Big Ten executive, reported in 2015 that the Big Ten would allow exceptions to the Power Five rule on a case-by-case basis, and also that the other FBS independent at that time, Army, had been added to the list of non-Power Five schools that would automatically be counted as Power Five opponents. ^[75]

All-time school records

This list goes through the 2022 season.

Future conference members in gray.

#	Team	Records	Pct.	Division Championships	Big Ten Championships	Claimed National Championships
2	Ohio State	953–332–53	.732	10	39†	8
1	Michigan	989–353–36	.731	3	44	11
3	USC††	878-365-54	.698	0	0	11
4	Nebraska††	912–417–40	.681	1	0	5
5	Penn State	920–406–42	.688	2	4	2
6	Michigan State	726–479–44	.599	3	9	6
7	Wisconsin	736–512–53	.586	5	14	1
8	UCLA††	631-451-37	.580	0	0	1
9	Minnesota	723–533–42	.573	1	18	7
10	Iowa	685–571–39	.544	2	11	5
11	Purdue	634–581–48	.521	1	8	0
12	Maryland††	670–621–43	.518	0	0	1
13	Illinois	621–617–50	.502	0	15	5
14	Rutgers††	662–679–42	.494	0	0	1
15	Northwestern	548–697–44	.442	2	8	0
16	Indiana	500–700–44	.420	0	2	0

† Ohio State vacated 12 wins and its Big Ten title in 2010 due to NCAA sanctions.

†† Numbers of division and conference championships shown reflect Big Ten history only and do not include division and conference championships in former conferences. USC and UCLA join the Big Ten in 2024, Maryland and Rutgers joined in 2014, and Nebraska joined in 2011.

Number of Claimed National Championships, as well as win–loss–tie records, include all seasons played, regardless of conference membership.

Big Ten Conference champions

Main articles: List of Big Ten Conference football champions and Big Ten Football Championship Game

Bowl games

Since 1946, the Big Ten champion has had a tie-in with the Rose Bowl game. 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. Michigan, which had been shut out of the postseason the previous three years, was the first beneficiary of the new rule when it played in the Orange Bowl vs. Oklahoma. Due to the pre-1975 rules, Big Ten teams such as Michigan and Ohio State have lower numbers of all-time bowl appearances than powerhouse teams from the Big 12 Conference (previously Big Eight and Southwest Conferences) and Southeastern Conference, which always placed multiple teams in bowl games every year.

Since the 2020–21 season, a new slate of bowl game selections has included several new bowl games. ^[76]

Pick	Name	Location	Opposing Conference
1	Rose Bowl*	Pasadena, California	Pac-12
2	Citrus Bowl or Orange Bowl^	Orlando, Florida or Miami Gardens, Florida	SEC or ACC
3	ReliaQuest Bowl [77]	Tampa, Florida	SEC
4	Las Vegas Bowl or Duke's Mayo Bowl†	Paradise, Nevada or Charlotte, North Carolina	Pac-12 or ACC
5	Music City Bowl [77]	Nashville, Tennessee	SEC
6	Pinstripe Bowl [77]	New York City	ACC
7	Guaranteed Rate Bowl [77]	Phoenix, Arizona	Big 12
8	San Francisco Bowl [77]	Santa Clara, California	Pac-12
9	Quick Lane Bowl [77]	Detroit, Michigan	MAC

* If the conference champion is picked for the College Football Playoff in years the Rose Bowl does not host a semifinal, the next highest ranked team in the committee rankings, or runner up, shall take its place at the Rose Bowl.

^ The Big Ten, along with the SEC, will be eligible to face the ACC representative in the Orange Bowl at least three out of the eight seasons that it does not host a semifinal for the Playoff over a 12-year span. Notre Dame will be chosen the other two years if eligible.

† The Big Ten will switch between the Las Vegas Bowl and Duke's Mayo Bowl on odd and even years, respectively.

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 win–loss records; many factors influence bowl selections, especially the likely turnout of the team's fans. Picks are made after CFP selections; the bowl with the #2 pick will have the first pick of the remaining teams in the conference.

For all non-College Football Playoff partners, the bowl partner will request a Big Ten team. The Big Ten will approve or assign another team based on internal selection parameters.

When not hosting a semifinal, the Orange Bowl will select the highest-ranked team from the Big Ten, SEC or Notre Dame to face an ACC opponent. (However, in an 8-game cycle [12 years due to not counting when the Orange Bowl is a semifinal], the Big Ten must be selected at least three times and no more than four times; the SEC similarly will be selected between three and four times while Notre Dame may be selected up to two times.) ^[78] The Big Ten Champion cannot play in the Orange Bowl. If a Big Ten team is not selected by the Orange Bowl, the Citrus Bowl will submit a request for a Big Ten team.

Head coach compensation

Guaranteed compensation is due to the coaches regardless of performance. Though most of the pay is directed from the university, some also comes in the form of guaranteed endorsements and other income streams. Most coaches also have performance-based bonuses that can significantly raise their salaries. ^[79]

Two Big Ten member schools—Northwestern, a private institution, and Penn State, exempt from most open records laws due to its status as what Pennsylvania calls a "state-related" institution—are not obligated to provide salary information for their head coaches, but choose to do so.

Conf. Rank	Institution	Head coach	2023 guaranteed pay
T-1	Michigan State University	Mel Tucker	$9,500,000
T-1	Ohio State University	Ryan Day	$9,500,000
3	University of Nebraska–Lincoln	Matt Rhule	$7,800,000
T-4	University of Wisconsin–Madison	Luke Fickell	$7,500,000
T-4	Pennsylvania State University	James Franklin	$7,500,000
6	University of Michigan	Jim Harbaugh	$7,050,000
7	University of Iowa	Kirk Ferentz	$7,000,000
8	University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign	Bret Bielema	$6,000,000
9	Northwestern University	Pat Fitzgerald	$5,748,000
10	University of Minnesota	P. J. Fleck	$5,100,000
11	Indiana University Bloomington	Tom Allen	$4,700,000
12	Purdue University	Ryan Walters	$4,100,000
T-13	Rutgers University–New Brunswick	Greg Schiano	$4,000,000
T-13	University of Maryland, College Park	Mike Locksley	$4,000,000

Marching bands

All Big Ten member schools have marching bands which perform regularly during the football season. Ten of the member schools, as well as future member UCLA, have won the Sudler Trophy, ^[80] generally considered the most prestigious honor a collegiate marching band can receive. ^[81] The first three Sudler trophies were awarded to Big Ten marching bands—Michigan (1982), Illinois (1983) and Ohio State (1984). ^[80] The Big Ten has more Sudler Trophy recipients than any other collegiate athletic conference. ^[80]

Conference individual honors

Main article: Big Ten Conference football individual honors

Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award individual honors at the end of each football season.

Men's basketball

See also: 2022–23 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season and Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament

The Big Ten has participated in basketball since 1904, and has led the nation in attendance every season since 1978. ^[82] It has been a national powerhouse in men's basketball, having multiple championship winners and often sending four or more teams to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Previous NCAA champions include Indiana with five titles, Michigan State with two, and Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio State with one each. Maryland, which joined the Big Ten in 2014, won one NCAA championship as a member of the ACC. ^{[83] [84]} Ohio State played in the first NCAA tournament national championship game in 1939, losing to Oregon. Despite this, Jimmy Hull of Ohio State was the first NCAA tournament MVP. The first three tournament MVPs came from the Big Ten (Marv Huffman of Indiana in 1940 and John Katz of Wisconsin in 1941).

Big Ten teams have also experienced success in the postseason NIT. Since 1974, 13 Big Ten teams have played in the championship game, winning nine championships. Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and Minnesota have won two NIT championships, while Indiana and Purdue have won one each. Two other members, Maryland and Nebraska, won NIT titles before they joined the Big Ten. In addition, in 1943 the defunct Helms Athletic Foundation retrospectively awarded national titles to Northwestern for 1931 and Purdue for 1932; then in 1957, it selected Illinois for 1915, Minnesota for 1902 and 1919, and Wisconsin for 1912, 1914 and 1916. ^[85] Former member Chicago won a post-season national championship series in 1908.

Since 1999, the Big Ten has taken part in the ACC–Big Ten Challenge with the Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC holds an 11–5–2 record against the Big Ten; Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, and Wisconsin are the only Big Ten schools without losing records in the challenge.

All-time school records

This list is updated through March 1, 2022 and is listed by win percentage in NCAA Division I men's college basketball.

Future members in gray.

#	Big Ten	Overall record	Pct.	Big Ten Tournament Championships	Big Ten Regular Season Championships	NCAA National Championships	Claimed Pre-Tournament Championships
1	UCLA	1968-888	.689	0	0	11	0
2	Purdue	1855–1045	.640	1	25	0	1
3	Illinois	1833–1031	.640	3	17	0	1
4	Indiana	1865–1080	.635	0	22	5	0
5	Ohio State	1810–1138	.614	4†	20†	1	0
6	Michigan State	1754–1114	.612	6	16	2	0
7	Michigan	1659–1060	.610	2†	15	1	0
8	Maryland	1604–1056	.603	0	1	1	0
9	Iowa	1695–1193–1	.587	2	8	0	0
10	USC	1701-1241	.578	0	0	0	0
11	Minnesota	1677–1248–2	.573	0	8†	0	3†
12	Wisconsin	1653–1237	.572	3	20	1	3
13	Penn State	1508–1211–1	.555	0	0	0	0
14	Nebraska	1529–1410	.520	0	0	0	0
15	Rutgers	1276–1235	.508	0	0	0	0
16	Northwestern	1105–1557–1	.415	0	2	0	1

† Minnesota vacated its 1997 Big Ten Conference regular season title, Michigan vacated its 1998 Big Ten tournament title, and Ohio State vacated its 2002 Big Ten tournament, as well as 2000 and 2002 regular season titles, due to NCAA sanctions. Minnesota was the champion for both the Premo-Porretta Power Poll and the Helms Athletic Foundation in 1902, but was only the Premo-Porretta champion in 1903 and only the Helms champion in 1919.

National championships, Final Fours, and NCAA tournament appearances

Big Ten Conference basketball programs have combined to win 10 NCAA men's basketball championships as Big Ten members, with another member having won a national championship before joining the conference. Indiana has won five, Michigan State has won two, while Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin have won one national championship each as Big Ten members. Maryland won one national championship while a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Future member UCLA has won 11 national championships, matching the total of all existing Big Ten members. Eleven teams have advanced to the Final Four at least once in their history, as have both future members. Nine Big Ten schools (Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State, Maryland, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin) plus future member UCLA are among the national top-50 in all-time NCAA tournament appearances.

School	Men's NCAA Championships	Men's NCAA Final Fours	Men's NCAA Elite Eights	Men's NCAA Sweet Sixteens	Men's NCAA tournament appearances
Illinois		5 (1949, 1951, 1952, 1989, 2005)	9 (1942, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1963, 1984, 1989, 2001, 2005)	11 (1951, 1952, 1963, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1989, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005)	33 (1942, 1949, 1951–52, 1963, 1981, 1983–90, 1993–95, 1997, 1998, 2000–07, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2021, 2022, 2023)
Indiana	5 (1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987)	8 (1940, 1953, 1973, 1976, 1981, 1987, 1992, 2002)	11 (1940, 1953, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1992, 1993, 2002)	22 (1953, 1954, 1958, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1991–94, 2002, 2012, 2013, 2016)	41 (1940, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980–84, 1986–2003, 2006–08, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2022, 2023)
Iowa		3 (1955, 1956, 1980)	4 (1955, 1956, 1980, 1987)	8 (1955, 1956, 1970, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1999)	29 (1955, 1956, 1970, 1979–83, 1985–89, 1991–93, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2014–16, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)
Maryland	1 (2002)	2 (2001, 2002)	4 (1973, 1975, 2001, 2002)	14 (1958, 1973, 1975, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001–03, 2016)	29 (1958, 1973, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1983–86, 1994–2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015–17, 2019, 2021, 2023)
Michigan	1 (1989)	6 (1964, 1965, 1976, 1989, 2013, 2018)	14 (1948, 1964–66, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1989, 1992, 1994, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2021)	17 (1964–66, 1974, 1976–77, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 2013, 2014, 2017–19, 2021, 2022)	28 (1948, 1964–66, 1974–77, 1985–90, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2009, 2011–14, 2016–19, 2021, 2022)
Michigan State	2 (1979, 2000)	10 (1957, 1979, 1999–01, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019)	14 (1957, 1959, 1978, 1979, 1999–01, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2019)	21 (1957, 1959, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1990, 1998–2001, 2003, 2005, 2008–10, 2012–15, 2019, 2023)	36 (1957, 1959, 1978, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1990–92, 1994, 1995, 1998–2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)
Minnesota			1 (1990)	3 (1982, 1989, 1990)	10 (1982, 1989, 1990, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019)
Nebraska					7 (1986, 1991–94, 1998, 2014)
Northwestern					2 (2017, 2023)
Ohio State	1 (1960)	10 (1939, 1944–46, 1960–62, 1968, 2007, 2012)	14 (1939, 1944–46, 1950, 1960–62, 1968, 1971, 1992, 2007, 2012, 2013)	14 (1960–62, 1968, 1971, 1980, 1983, 1991, 1992, 2007, 2010–13)	31 (1939, 1944–46, 1950, 1960–62, 1968, 1971, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1990–92, 2006, 2007, 2009–15, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)
Penn State		1 (1954)	2 (1942, 1954)	4 (1952, 1954, 1955, 2001)	10 (1942, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1965, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2011, 2023)
Purdue		2 (1969, 1980)	5 (1969, 1980, 1994, 2000, 2019)	13 (1969, 1980, 1988, 1994, 1998–2000, 2009, 2010, 2017–19, 2022)	33 (1969, 1977, 1980, 1983–88, 1990, 1991, 1993–95, 1997–2000, 2003, 2007–12, 2015–19, 2021, 2022, 2023)
Rutgers		1 (1976)	1 (1976)	2 (1976, 1979)	8 (1975, 1976, 1979, 1983, 1989, 1991, 2021, 2022)
UCLA	11 (1964–1965, 1967–1973, 1975, 1995)	19 (1962, 1964–1965, 1967–1976, 1976, 1980*, 1995, 2006–2008, 2021)	23 (1950, 1962, 1964–1965, 1967–1976, 1979–1980*, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2006–2008, 2021)	36 (1952, 1956, 1962–1965, 1967–1980*, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1997–1998, 2000–2002, 2006–2008, 2014–2015, 2017, 2021–2022)	46 (1950, 1952, 1956, 1962–1965, 1967–1981, 1983, 1987, 1989–2002, 2005–2009, 2011, 2013–2015 , 2017–2018, 2021–2022, 2023)
USC		2 (1940, 1954)	4 (1940, 1954, 2001, 2021)	5 (1954, 1961, 2001, 2007*, 2021)	21 (1940, 1954, 1960–1961, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1991–1992, 1997, 2001–2002, 2007*–2009, 2011, 2016–2017, 2021–2022, 2023)
Wisconsin	1 (1941)	4 (1941, 2000, 2014, 2015)	6 (1941, 1947, 2000, 2005, 2014, 2015)	10 (2000, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014–17)	26 (1941, 1947, 1994, 1997, 1999–2017, 2019, 2021, 2022)

Seasons are listed by the calendar years in which they ended. Italics indicate honors earned before the school competed in the Big Ten.

NCAA tournament champions, runners-up and locations

† denotes overtime games. Multiple †'s indicate more than one overtime.

Year	Champion		Runner-up		Venue and city
1939	Oregon	46	Ohio State	33	Patten Gymnasium	Evanston, Illinois
1940	Indiana	60	Kansas	42	Municipal Auditorium	Kansas City, Missouri
1941	Wisconsin	39	Washington State	34	Municipal Auditorium	Kansas City, Missouri (2)
1953	Indiana (2)	69	Kansas	68	Municipal Auditorium	Kansas City, Missouri (4)
1956	San Francisco (2)	83	Iowa	71	McGaw Hall	Evanston, Illinois (2)
1960	Ohio State	75	California	55	Cow Palace	Daly City, California
1961†	Cincinnati	70	Ohio State	65	Municipal Auditorium	Kansas City, Missouri (8)
1962	Cincinnati (2)	71	Ohio State	59	Freedom Hall	Louisville, Kentucky (3)
1965	UCLA (2)	91	Michigan	80	Memorial Coliseum	Portland, Oregon
1969	UCLA (5)	92	Purdue	72	Freedom Hall	Louisville, Kentucky (6)
1976	Indiana (3)	86	Michigan	68	The Spectrum	Philadelphia
1979	Michigan State	75	Indiana State	64	Special Events Center	Salt Lake City
1981	Indiana (4)	63	North Carolina	50	Spectrum	Philadelphia (2)
1987	Indiana (5)	74	Syracuse	73	Louisiana Superdome	New Orleans (2)
1989†	Michigan	80	Seton Hall	79	Kingdome	Seattle (4)
1992	Duke (2)	71	Michigan [a 1]	51	Metrodome	Minneapolis
1993	North Carolina (3)	77	Michigan [a 1]	71	Louisiana Superdome	New Orleans (3)
2000	Michigan State (2)	89	Florida	76	RCA Dome	Indianapolis (4)
2002	Maryland	64	Indiana	52	Georgia Dome	Atlanta (2)
2005	North Carolina (4)	75	Illinois	70	Edward Jones Dome	St. Louis (3)
2007	Florida (2)	84	Ohio State	75	Georgia Dome	Atlanta (3)
2009	North Carolina (5)	89	Michigan State	72	Ford Field	Detroit
2013	Louisville [a 2]	82	Michigan	76	Georgia Dome	Atlanta (4)
2015	Duke (5)	68	Wisconsin	63	Lucas Oil Stadium	Indianapolis (7)
2018	Villanova (3)	79	Michigan	62	Alamodome	San Antonio (4)

1. Participation vacated due to major NCAA violations.
2. Participation and title vacated due to major NCAA violations.

Post-season NIT championships and runners-up

Year	Champion		Runner-up		MVP	Venue and city
1972	Maryland	100	Niagara	69	Tom McMillen, Maryland	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1974	Purdue	87	Utah	81	Mike Sojourner, Utah	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1979	Indiana	53	Purdue	52	Butch Carter and Ray Tolbert, Indiana	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1980	Virginia	58	Minnesota	55	Ralph Sampson, Virginia	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1982	Bradley	68	Purdue	61	Mitchell Anderson, Bradley	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1984	Michigan	83	Notre Dame	63	Tim McCormick, Michigan	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1985	UCLA	65	Indiana	62	Reggie Miller, UCLA	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1986	Ohio State	73	Wyoming	63	Brad Sellers, Ohio State	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1988	Connecticut	72	Ohio State	67	Phil Gamble, UConn	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1993	Minnesota	62	Georgetown	61	Voshon Lenard, Minnesota	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1996	Nebraska	60	Saint Joseph's	56	Erick Strickland, Nebraska	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1997	Michigan [b 1]	82	Florida State	73	Robert Traylor, Michigan	Madison Square Garden	New York City
1998	Minnesota [b 2]	79	Penn State	72	Kevin Clark, Minnesota	Madison Square Garden	New York City
2004	Michigan	62	Rutgers	55	Daniel Horton, Michigan	Madison Square Garden	New York City
2006	South Carolina	76	Michigan	64	Renaldo Balkman, South Carolina	Madison Square Garden	New York City
2008	Ohio State	92	Massachusetts	85	Kosta Koufos, Ohio State	Madison Square Garden	New York City
2009	Penn State	69	Baylor	63	Jamelle Cornley, Penn State	Madison Square Garden	New York City
2012	Stanford	75	Minnesota	51	Aaron Bright, Stanford	Madison Square Garden	New York City
2013	Baylor	74	Iowa	54	Pierre Jackson, Baylor	Madison Square Garden	New York City
2014	Minnesota	65	SMU	63	Austin Hollins, Minnesota	Madison Square Garden	New York City
2018	Penn State	82	Utah	66	Lamar Stevens, Penn State	Madison Square Garden	New York City

1. Participation and title vacated due to major NCAA violations.
2. Participation and title vacated due to major NCAA violations.

1. Associate member: Johns Hopkins

See also: List of Big Ten Conference men's basketball regular season champions and Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament

Women's basketball

Women's basketball teams have played a total of ten times in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament (since 1982) and Women's National Invitation Tournament Championship (since 1998). Purdue is the only Big Ten member to have won the NCAA women's basketball national title while a member of the conference. Both schools that joined in 2014, Maryland and Rutgers, won national titles before joining the Big Ten—Rutgers won the final AIAW championship in 1982, when it was a member of the Eastern 8, and Maryland won the NCAA title in 2006 as a member of the ACC. Big Ten women's basketball led conference attendance from 1993 to 1999. ^[86]

Like the men's teams, the women's basketball teams in the Big Ten participate in the Big Ten–ACC Women's Challenge, which was founded in 2007.

National championships, Final Fours, and NCAA tournament appearances

Seasons are listed by the calendar years in which they ended. Italics indicate seasons before the school competed in the Big Ten.

School	Women's AIAW/NCAA Championships	Women's AIAW/NCAA Final Fours	Women's AIAW/NCAA Elite Eights	Women's AIAW/NCAA Sweet Sixteens	Women's AIAW/NCAA Tournament Appearances
Illinois				2 (1997, 1998)	8 (1982, 1986, 1987, 1997–2000, 2003)
Indiana		1 (1973)	3 (1972, 1974, 2021)	2 (2021, 2022)	8 (1983, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022)
Iowa		1 (1993)	4 (1987, 1988, 1993, 2019)	8 (1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1996, 2015, 2019, 2021)	28 (1986–94, 1996–98, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010–15, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)
Maryland	1 (2006)	6 (1978, 1982, 1989, 2006, 2014, 2015)	14 (1978–82, 1988, 1989, 1992, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015)	19 (1978–83, 1988, 1989, 1992, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012–14, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022)	33 (1978–84, 1986, 1988–93, 1997, 2001, 2004–09, 2011–14, 2015–19, 2021, 2022)
Michigan			1 (2022)	2 (2021, 2022)	9 (1990, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)
Michigan State		1 (2005)	1 (2005)	3 (2005, 2006, 2009)	19 (1977, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2003–07, 2009–14, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021)
Minnesota		1 (2004)	1 (2004)	4 (1977, 2003, 2004, 2005)