Big 10 Conference Information:
Headquarters: Park Ridge, Illinois
Commissioner: James Delaney
Schools: University of Illinois, Indiana University, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, University of Wisconsin
Men’s Sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track and field, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming, diving, and tennis
Women’s Sports: basketball, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track and field, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming, diving, tennis, volleyball and wrestling
Titles: 233 NCAA Championships
Bowl Games: Alamo Bowl, Capital One Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl, Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, Outback Bowl.
The Big Ten Conference is the oldest college athletic conference in the United States. Its eleven member schools are located primarily in the Midwestern United States. The conference was more commonly known as the Western Conference after its inception in 1896, and changed its institutional lineup several times over the following decades. In 1917, Michigan rejoined the conference (then known as the Big Nine) after a 9-year absence, and the conference was for the first time dubbed the Big Ten. It was not until 1987 that the conference formally acquired its current moniker, the Big Ten Conference.
The Big Ten Conference is actually composed of eleven schools, as Penn State joined the roster in 1990. Ten out of eleven schools in the conference are considered Public Ivies, a term coined by Richard Moll in 1985 to indicate public institutions which "provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price." Northwestern University is the only private university in the conference.
The Big Ten Conference is a member of NCAA Division I for all sports, and all its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly Division I-A. Because the FBS is the highest level of NCAA Division I competition, this means these schools are the top pigskin competitors at the inter-collegiate level.
Currently, Pennsylvania State University holds the conference record for most NCAA championships. University of Michigan, Ohio State University and University of Minnesota hold the top three spots for most Big Ten Conference football championships in that order.