The Big Ten 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 prominent universities, which accounts for its name. As of 2014, it consists of 14 member institutions and 2 affiliate institutions, with 4 new member institutions scheduled to join in 2024. 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.
James Joseph Harbaugh is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach at the University of Michigan from 2015 to 2023, the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014, Stanford University from 2007 to 2010 and the University of San Diego from 2004 to 2006.
The Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry, referred to as The Game by some fans and sports commentators, is an American college football rivalry game that is played annually between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. As of 2023, Michigan and Ohio State are the winningest and third winningest programs in NCAA Division I football history, respectively. The rivalry has gathered profound national interest as many of the games determined the Big Ten Conference title and the resulting Rose Bowl Game matchups, as well as the outcome of the NCAA Division I college football championship. In 2000, the game was ranked by ESPN as the greatest North American sports rivalry ever. The rivalry is listed in Rivals!: The Ten Greatest American Sports Rivalries of the 20th Century, published by Wiley. Encyclopædia Britannica includes the rivalry as one of the ten great sports rivalries in history.
The Northwestern Wildcats football team represents Northwestern University as an NCAA Division I college football team and member of the Big Ten Conference based near Chicago in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern began playing football in 1882. Its football mascot is the Wildcat, a term coined by a Chicago Tribune reporter in 1924, after reporting on a football game where the players appeared as "a wall of purple wildcats". Northwestern Football is also marketed as "Chicago's Big Ten Team" with its proximity and ties to Chicago.
Leon Michael Hart is an American football coach and former player. Hart played college football as a running back at the University of Michigan, from 2004 to 2007, and holds the Michigan Wolverines career rushing record with 5,040 yards. He was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in 2008, and played three seasons in the NFL. Hart has worked as an assistant football coach at the University of Michigan, Syracuse University, Western Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, and Indiana University Bloomington.
The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its distinctive winged helmet, its fight song, its record-breaking attendance figures at Michigan Stadium, and its many rivalries, particularly its annual, regular season-ending game against Ohio State, known simply as "The Game," once voted as ESPN's best sports rivalry.
Luke Joseph Fickell is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head coach at the University of Wisconsin. Previously he was the head coach at the University of Cincinnati, a position he held from 2016 through 2022. Fickell played college football as a nose guard at Ohio State University from 1993 to 1996 and then was an assistant coach for the Buckeyes. He was interim head coach at Ohio State for the entire 2011 season.
Jay Patrick Harbaugh is an American football coach who is the special teams coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He is the son of Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, grandson of former player and coach Jack Harbaugh, and the nephew of Baltimore Ravens head coach, John Harbaugh.
Ryan Patrick Day is an American football coach and former college football player. He is the 24th and current head football coach at Ohio State University, a position he has held since 2019. Day was also the acting head coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes for the first three games of the 2018 season. He attended the University of New Hampshire, where he played quarterback and linebacker for the Wildcats from 1998 to 2001 before he began his coaching career in 2002.
The 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game that was played on January 8, 2024, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. The tenth College Football Playoff National Championship, the game determined the national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for the 2023 season. It was the final game of the 2023–24 College Football Playoff (CFP) and, aside from any all-star games afterward, the culminating game of the 2023–24 bowl season. The game began at approximately 6:45 p.m. CST and was televised nationally by ESPN.
Sherrone Banfield Moore is an American football coach, currently the head football coach at the University of Michigan. He served as Michigan's acting head coach for four games during the team's national championship-winning 2023 season. Moore succeeded Jim Harbaugh as head coach in 2024.
The 2020 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Ryan Day, and played their home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. It was the Buckeyes' 131st season overall and 108th as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
Jesse Minter is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan from 2022 to 2023.
The 2023 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. In their ninth and final year under head coach Jim Harbaugh, the Wolverines compiled an undefeated 15–0 record, outscored opponents by a total of 538 to 156, and won their third consecutive Big Ten championship with a 26–0 victory over Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game. They defeated No. 4 Alabama, 27–20 in overtime, in the 2024 Rose Bowl. They then defeated No. 2 Washington, 34–13, in the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship to claim their first CFP title and 12th national championship in program history, their first since 1997, and their first consensus national championship since 1948. With their win against Maryland on November 18, the Wolverines became the first program in college football history to reach 1,000 wins.
The Michigan–Penn State football rivalry is an American college football game between the Wolverines of the University of Michigan and the Nittany Lions of Pennsylvania State University. Michigan leads the series 17–10.
The 2023 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first-year head coach David Braun and played their home games at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. Braun began the season as interim head coach and was elevated to permanent head coach on November 15 following the team's 24–10 road win over Wisconsin.
The 2023 Big Ten Conference football season was the 128th season of college football played for the Big Ten Conference and part of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This was the Big Ten's tenth season with 14 teams, and its thirteenth and final season with a divisional scheduling format. Next season the league will expand to 18 with the additions of UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington. This was the first year of the Big Ten's new media deal and thus its first year of no games airing on ABC Sports properties and first year of games airing on NBC Sports and CBS Sports properties. This was also the final year Northwestern played in the original Ryan Field before its demolition.
In 2023, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) opened an investigation into a potential sign stealing scandal by staff members of the Michigan Wolverines football team.
