Big Ten expansion: 18 things to know as USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington kickstart new era for conference

The Big Ten has grown. Again.

Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington are officially members of the Big Ten as of Friday, Aug. 2, growing the league’s number of schools to 18. What better way to celebrate the expansion than with 18 things to know about the Big Ten?

For the newcomers and outsiders, consider this an orientation of sorts. For the Big Ten old-timers, it’s a refresher course that might include something you didn’t already know.

What we can all agree on is that there are 18 things. That’s indisputable.

1. The Big Ten didn’t get its name until 1916

The league has been around for a long time with a few different iterations. It also has its roots in death. The league formed after Purdue president James Henry Smart got together with school presidents from Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Chicago and Lake Forest College to figure out a way to regulate intercollegiate athletics after dealing with mounting pressure over deaths in the sport in 1895.

Over a 25-year period from 1880 to 1905, there were 325 deaths involving football players. It’s wild to comprehend it now in the age of endless targeting reviews, but in the late 19th century, there wasn’t much consideration for player safety.

A year later, in February 1896, the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives (an absolute banger of a name) was founded. Lake Forest College was not present for the founding and was replaced by Michigan. The seven schools were known as the Western Conference, and it wasn’t referred to as anything else until Iowa and Indiana joined in 1899. At that point, some began referencing the league as the Big Nine.

Shortly after, Nebraska asked to join the league in 1900 and 1911 but was rejected both times. They’d finally join the league a century later, but a lot of things happened in that century.

Michigan was voted out of the league in 1907 for breaking rules about scheduling and roster limits. Ohio State joined in 1912 to bring the league back to nine teams, and when Michigan rejoined in 1916, the league was referred to as the Big Ten for the first time.

2. Only one full-time member has ever left

The University of Chicago was a founding member of the league, but President Robert Maynard Hutchins abolished the football program when the school decided to get rid of varsity athletics after World War II. The Maroons left the conference for good in 1946, and three years later, Michigan State — much to Michigan’s chagrin — joined the league, restoring it to 10 schools. The league would consist of those same 10 schools for nearly 50 years before expanding again with Penn State’s addition in 1990.

3. The league nearly expanded to 14 schools in 1993 

College football realignment is not a new phenomenon. In 1993, a few years after Penn State joined the league, the Big Ten kicked around the possibility of adding Kansas, Missouri and Rutgers. Their addition would’ve brought the league to 14 teams and been broken into two seven-team divisions.

Does any of that sound familiar?

The plans were squashed when the Big 8 and Southwest Conference merged to form the Big 12. However, much like Nebraska in 1911, Rutgers would eventually find its way in, though it wouldn’t have to wait a century to do so.

4. Chicago boasts the first Heisman winner in 1935

Jay Berwanger, nicknamed “The Flying Dutchman,” was a halfback for Chicago and technically German, but he never let reality get in the way of a good nickname. The 1935 Heisman Tophy would not be the only time Berwanger was the first to do something; he later became the first draft pick in NFL history. The Philadelphia Eagles took him with the first pick of the 1936 NFL Draft, though Berwanger never played a snap of professional football due to a salary dispute.

Berwanger wanted $1,000 per game, but the Eagles wouldn’t budge. He was then traded to the Chicago Bears but couldn’t work out a deal with them, either, as he wanted to preserve his amateur status for the 1936 Olympics to compete in the decathlon. He never made it to the Olympics or the football field as a player again. Instead, he worked at a rubber company in Chicago and was a part-time coach for Chicago’s football team until they disbanded the program.

This is the kind of story that would never happen in 2024.

5. The Big Ten has a history with the Heisman

Current Big Ten schools boast a combined 19 Heisman winners, though Nebraska’s three winners came before joining the league, as did Penn State’s. With the addition of the four new schools, the number has climbed to 29, with USC responsible for eight of them (more than any other school in history). The last Big Ten player to win the award while playing in the league was Ohio State QB Troy Smith in 2006. The Buckeyes are tied for second-most Heisman winners all-time with Notre Dame and Oklahoma at seven apiece. 

6. Ten schools have won recognized national titles

The history of national titles, particularly in the pre-television era, is murky at best. There are schools that have been proclaimed national champions by newspaper outlets that were the early 20th century equivalent of fan blogs, and schools happily claimed them because calling yourself a champion is fun.

According to the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll, and in the BCS and College Football Playoff eras, 10 different Big Ten schools have won national titles, though five came prior to joining: USC (7), Ohio State (6), Nebraska (5), Minnesota (4), Michigan (3), Michigan State (2), Penn State (2), Maryland (1), UCLA (1) and Washington (1).

If we include claimed national titles that aren’t officially recognized, the list grows with Illinois, Iowa, and Rutgers. There’s also Chicago, which claims titles in 1905 and 1913.

7. The first team to repeat as AP champion was …

Minnesota. You may have been surprised to see that, even with Michigan’s national title last season, Minnesota has more national titles in the major poll era than the Wolverines.

There was once a time when the Gophers were a dynasty! They have four national titles in the major poll era but claim seven total and have two others (1911 and 1915) they don’t officially claim. Not only were the Gophers the first to repeat in the AP Top 25, but it was technically a three-peat! They claim titles in 1934, 1935 and 1936. They won two more in 1940 and 1941.

The Gophers were basically Alabama before World War II ruined everything and have won only one national title since in 1960.

8. Michigan and Ohio State have long dominated

There was a long time when the Big Ten was referred to as “The Big Two” and “The Little Eight,” and for good reason. In the history of the league, Michigan has 45 Big Ten titles and Ohio State has 40 (I’m counting 2010 even if Ohio State doesn’t). That includes 43 outright titles between them, with Ohio State having the edge there at 24 to 19.

Michigan’s first conference title came in 1898, while Ohio State won its first in 1916. While the Wolverines won plenty before World War II, the true dominance of these two schools began in the late 1960s.

There have been 56 Big Ten seasons since 1968, and Michigan or Ohio State have won at least a share of the conference title in 44 of them. There have been eight season in which the two schools shared the title.

Since the creation of the Big Ten Championship Game in 2011, Ohio State or Michigan have won the league eight times in 13 seasons and didn’t win any until the game’s fourth edition. The last Big Ten team other than these two to win the league was Penn State back in 2016.

Ohio State’s Woody Hayes and Michigan’s Bo Schembechler are tied for most Big Ten titles among coaches with 13 apiece.

9. Illinois claims what no other Big Ten school can

Another surprising fact about the Big Ten is that Illinois ranks fourth in most conference titles with 15, eight of which were outright. Like Minnesota, most of the damage was done in the early part of the 20th century; the Illini have won the conference only three times since 1983.

The 1983 season was special, though. The Illini went 9-0 in the Big Ten (yep, they used to play nine-game conference schedules back in the day, too) when the league had only 10 teams. They are the only school in conference history to beat every other team in the league in the same season, and that record will stand forever unless the Big Ten adopts a 17-game schedule. Which, given the way the schools are constantly desperate to increase TV revenue, we probably can’t rule out entirely.

10. Ten of the 25 biggest stadiums are in the Big Ten

The primary reason the Big Ten commands such large television contracts is its enormous alumni base, and a lot of those former students like to attend games, which means you need a large stadium to accommodate them.

The Big Ten has plenty of large stadiums. Michigan Stadium is the largest football stadium (pro or college) in the country with a capacity of 107,601. The second largest is Penn State at 106,572, followed by Ohio State at 102,780. That means the three largest college football stadiums are all in the Big Ten.

After those three, the only other Big Ten school in the top 10 is newcomer UCLA, which plays in the Rose Bowl (91,136). Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium (85,458) ranks 14th, USC’s Los Angeles Coliseum (77,500) is 19th, Wisconsin’s Camp Randall (75,822) is 20th, Michigan State’s Spartan Stadium (74,866) is 21st, Washington’s Husky Stadium (70,138) is 23rd, and Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium (69,250) is 24th.

The smallest stadium in the Big Ten is currently Minnesota’s Huntington Bank Stadium (50,805), but the new Northwestern football stadium in the process of being built will only seat 35,000, which is 12,000 fewer people than Ryan Field held.

11. Three schools have an all-time record below .500

Using officially recognized records, Indiana’s all-time win percentage of .419 is the worst in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers are 507-713 all-time, which means they need an epic run of success to get over the .500 mark.

The next worst record belongs to Northwestern with a win percentage of .448 (566-702). Rutgers is at .491 (671-695). The Scarlet Knights are 40-80 (.333) since joining the Big Ten in 2014.

Illinois is one terrible season away from joining those three, currently sitting at .503 (632-625).

12. Newcomers may want to temper expectations

When Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993, it was the school’s first time in a conference, and for the most part, it maintained the same pace it always had. The Nittany Lions went 54-26 against Big Ten teams in their first 10 seasons, including an undefeated season in 1994.

Things haven’t worked out as well for other newcomers. 

Nebraska went 47-33 against the Big 12 in its final 10 seasons in the league and 43-41 in its first 10 seasons in the Big Ten. Things have actually gotten worse in the last three seasons, as the Huskers have a 7-20 record in Big Ten play. 

Maryland had a record of 30-50 against ACC teams in its final 10 seasons and has gone 27-57 against Big Ten teams in the first decade. Rutgers is even uglier. The Knights went 34-36 over their final 10 years in the Big East/American and are 16-72 after a decade of Big Ten conference play.

I’m not saying the four new schools will fall off a cliff now that they’re in the Big Ten, but history suggests the transition is rougher than expected.

13. There are now 17 rivalry trophies in play

The Big Ten loves rivalry trophies and is thrilled to add the Victory Bell between UCLA and USC to the equation. Now, if we can convince Oregon and Washington to begin playing for a trophy, we’ll expand the list to 18. Speaking of Big Ten rivalries, I recently ranked them all.

14. Three new schools have winning records against the 14 old Big Ten schools

USC comes in with the most impressive results. The Trojans are 75-30 against legacy Big Ten schools, including a mark of 19-14 against Ohio State and Michigan. That last part is what truly separates the Trojans, as they’re the only one of the four to have a winning record against the Big Ten’s two traditional powers.

UCLA is 47-43 overall against Big Ten teams, historically, but 7-12 against Michigan and Ohio State. Washington is 51-48-1 but 8-18 against Michigan and Ohio State and 8-21 if you include Penn State. Then there’s Oregon, which is 22-37 overall, but that record is dragged down considerably by a 1-9 mark against Ohio State. The Ducks have done slightly better against Michigan (2-3) and Penn State (1-3), but not much.

15. USC has the most draft picks of any Big Ten school

Ohio State loses its claim to the Big Ten mark; its 489 NFL Draft selections are now 41 fewer than USC’s 530. Considering that production, it should come as no surprise that USC has had more players taken with the first pick of the draft than any other school. Following Caleb Williams‘ selection with the top pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Trojans now have six all-time.

By the way, the school with the most all-time draft picks is Notre Dame with 532, and speaking of the Irish …

16. Notre Dame is already in the Big Ten

That’s right! While the Big Ten and Notre Dame have danced around one another for a century about joining in football, the Irish are already a member of the Big Ten in ice hockey. Notre Dame plays its other sports in the ACC, but the ACC does not have hockey.

17. Rutgers, Maryland haven’t played in the Rose Bowl

This includes both the bowl game and against UCLA during the regular season. Hell, Rutgers has only played two games against the four new Big Ten schools in its entire history, and both are against Washington.

Maryland has played a road game against UCLA before, but their 1954 meeting was played at the Los Angeles Coliseum. UCLA didn’t call the Rose Bowl home until 1982.

18. Penn State’s original colors were black and pink

OK, so this doesn’t have anything to do with the Big Ten since Penn State wasn’t in the league when this was the case, but I said at the top of the story I wanted you to learn something, and this was something I learned while doing research for this story.

I had no idea!

Penn State’s original school colors were pink and black, and they were chosen by the student body and approved unanimously in 1887. The school changed to navy blue and white in 1890, not because they changed their mind about the colors, but because washing the uniforms bleached the pink to white, and exposure to the sun made the black look navy blue.