Formed more than 115 years ago, the Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class academic institutions with shared values and goals. Since its inception in 1896, the pursuit and attainment of academic excellence has been the priority for every member institution. However, maintaining the conference's status as one of the preeminent athletic conferences in the country also endures as an important component of the Big Ten student-athlete experience. Recognized as one of intercollegiate sports' most successful undertakings, the Big Ten strives for success from its student-athletes not only on the field and in the classroom, but around the world as well.

The mission of the Big Ten Conference has always been to excel athletically without com-promising the priority our member institutions assign to their academic standards and to their commitment to student academic success. We seek to celebrate the many accomplishments of Big Ten student-athletes while continuously reinforcing each of our member institutions' high academic standards. Striking that impor-tant balance between academics and athletics is integral to the Big Ten's identity, and that philosophy led to the genesis of the new foot-ball division names. Both names link directly to the Big Ten mission.

LEGENDS DIVISION: A respectful acknowledgement of the numerous Heisman Trophy winners and College Football Hall of Famers that have graced our fields and sidelines for the past 115 years.

LEADERS DIVISION: A hopeful and aspirational acknowledgment that we believe the college athletics experience helps to develop the characteristics that Big Ten student-athletes will need to become leaders for the rest of their lives - in their homes, jobs and in their communities.

• The University of Nebraska-Lincoln officially joined the Big Ten on July 1, 2011, and will take part in competition in all sports during the 2011-12 academic year.
• With the addition of Nebraska, Big Ten institutions sponsor 298 teams with more than 9,500 student-athletes competing for Big Ten Championships. More than 166,000 student-athletes participate in Division I intercollegiate athletics while pursuing higher education.
• The Big Ten currently features 25 official conference sports, 12 for men and 13 for women. In June, the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors approved a recommendation from administrators to establish men's ice hockey as the 26th official conference sport beginning with the 2013-14 academic year.
• Big Ten student-athletes receive more than $120 million annually in direct financial aid.

• All Big Ten Universities have been granted Tier One Status by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, a distinction awarded to just over 100 universities in the country.
• The Big Ten leads all conferences with the highest number of ranked graduate school programs among the top 25 according to U.S. News and World Report in 2011. The Big Ten ranks first with 23 top-25 programs in the fields of law, medical (research and primary care), business and engineering.
• The Committee on Institutional Cooperation is a consortium featuring all 12 Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago that has generated unique opportunities for students and faculty by sharing expertise, leveraging resources and collaborating on programs.
• In 2010-11, the Big Ten recognized a record 2,308 student-athletes who achieved cumulative grade point averages of 3.0 or better on Academic All-Conference teams. The conference also recognized a total of 535 student-athletes who earned a grade point average of 3.7 or higher for the 2010-11 academic year with the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award.

• The Big Ten's media agreements with CBS, ABC/ESPN, FOX Sports and the Big Ten Network provide the conference with its greatest television exposure ever.
• In 2006, the Big Ten created the first national conference-owned television network, launched on Aug. 30, 2007, and now in its fourth year of operation. It is available to approximately 75 million homes nationally, and appears in 19 of the top 20 national media markets.
• The Big Ten's current media agreements have resulted in the production and distribution of more than 900 events nationally on an annual basis, compared to 300 events in the final year of previous agreements. Since the current agreements began in 2007-08, every home football and men's basketball game has been covered while women's basketball has received more coverage than any other conference.

• As part of its Gender Equity Action Policy Plan in 1992, the Big Ten was the first conference to address the historical imbalance in male and female student-athlete participation in intercollegiate athletics and voluntarily adopt participation goals for female student-athletes. Over the first five years of the plan, Big Ten institutions added 32 new women's programs and three conference championships.
• In the most recent year of reporting (2009-10), the conference averaged a 51/49 male-to-female participation ratio for full-time undergraduate students and a 52/48 male-to-female participation ratio for student-athletes.
• The BTN became the first national network to commit to event equality, producing and distributing a substantially equal number of men's and women's events across all platforms beginning with the 2010-11 academic year.

• During the 2010-11 season, Big Ten schools claimed six team national championships, with titles for Northwestern women's lacrosse, Ohio State synchronized swimming and men's volleyball, Penn State women's volleyball and wrestling and Wisconsin women's ice hockey.
• Big Ten teams have claimed at least three national titles in each of the last 10 seasons and lead all conferences with national titles in 13 different NCAA-sponsored championships from 2001-02 to 2010-11. Over that time, the Big Ten has produced national crowns in cross country, fencing, field hockey, football, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, synchronized swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling.

• Big Ten fans are some of the nation's most supportive, with more than 8.9 million patrons attending conference home contests during the 2010-11 seasons for football, men's and women's basketball and volleyball alone.
• In 2010, the Big Ten set new records for overall and average attendance in conference football games and surpassed the five-million mark for all games for the sixth straight season. During the 2010 volleyball campaign, the Big Ten led the nation with a total attendance of nearly 350,000. The Big Ten broke the two million mark in total men's basketball attendance in 2010-11 for the 19th straight campaign and led the country in average attendance for the 35th straight season. The Big Ten surpassed the 650,000 mark in women's basketball attendance for the 13th straight season in 2010-11 as average attendance has more than doubled since 1992.

Big Ten On Campus

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