kids encyclopedia robot

Big Ten Conference facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Big Ten Conference logo
Big Ten Conference logo

The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Most of its 14 member institutions are in the Midwestern United States.

Members

Institution Location Founded Joined Conference Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Varsity Teams NCAA Championships (as of January 1, 2014)
(excludes football)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana and Champaign, Illinois 1867 1896 Public 42,728 Fighting Illini 21 18
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, Indiana 1820 1899
(Athletics 1900)
Public 39,990 Hoosiers 24 24
University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 1847 1899
(Athletics 1900)
Public 30,409 Hawkeyes 24 25
MarylandUniversity of Maryland, College Park College Park, Maryland 1856 2014 Public 37,631 Terrapins 20 25
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 1817 1896
Inactive
1907-1916
Public 40,025 Wolverines 27 35
Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 1855 1950
(Athletics 1953)
Public 45,520 Spartans 25 19
University of Minnesota Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota 1851 1896 Public 51,194 Golden Gophers 23 17
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lincoln, Nebraska 1869 2011 Public 24,593 Cornhuskers 21 17
Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois 1851 1896 Private/Non-sectarian 13,407 Wildcats 19 8
Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 1870 1912 Public 52,568 Buckeyes 35 25
Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania 1855 1990
(Athletics 1993)
Public Nittany Lions (Lady Lions for women's basketball only) 31 43
Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana 1869 1896 Public 39,333 Boilermakers 18 3
Rutgers University New Brunswick and Piscataway, New Jersey 1766 2014 Public 41,565 Scarlet Knights 27 1
University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin 1848 1896 Public 41,466 Badgers 23 28

Associate member

The Big Ten gained its first "associate member"—i.e., a school playing only a small number of sports (in this case, one) in the conference—in 2014. The same school brought a second sport into the Big Ten in 2016. A second school became an associate member in 2017.

School Location Founded Joined Type
(affiliation)
Enrollment Nickname Big Ten
sports
Main Conference
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland 1876 2014 (men)
2016 (women)
Private
(nonsectarian)
5,066 Blue Jays Men's and women's lacrosse Centennial Conference (Div. III)
University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana 1842 2017 Private
(Catholic)
11,773 Fighting Irish Men's ice hockey ACC


Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Big Ten Conference para niños

kids search engine
Big Ten Conference Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.