The Big Ten Academic Alliance ( BTAA ), formerly the Committee on Institutional Cooperation ( CIC ), is the academic consortium of the universities in the Big Ten Conference . The consortium was renamed on June 29, 2016.
67-610: The Big Ten Academic Alliance is an academic consortium of the 18 institutions that are members of the Big Ten Conference . The University of Chicago , a former Big Ten Conference member, was a member of the CIC from 1958 to June 29, 2016. Current members: The Committee on Institutional Cooperation was established by the presidents of the Big Ten members in 1958 as the conference's academic counterpart. An invitation extended to
134-835: A research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of knowledge production ", along with "intergenerational knowledge transfer and the certification of new knowledge" through the awarding of doctoral degrees , and continue to be "the very center of scientific productivity". They can be public or private , and often have well-known brand names. Undergraduate courses at many research universities are often academic rather than vocational and may not prepare students for particular careers, but many employers value degrees from research universities because they teach fundamental life skills such as critical thinking . Globally, research universities are overwhelmingly public institutions , while some countries like
201-617: A 14-team league with two football divisions. These talks died when the Big Eight Conference merged with former Southwest Conference members to create the Big 12 . Following the addition of Penn State, efforts were made to encourage the University of Notre Dame , at that time the last remaining non- service academy independent, to join the league. In 1999, Notre Dame and the Big Ten entered into private negotiations concerning
268-509: A failed attempt to seek a significantly larger rights fee from ESPN to renew its existing agreements. This came to fruition in 2006, when the conference announced the formation of a dedicated cable network, Big Ten Network , in a 20-year partnership with Fox Sports , which would officially launch in 2007. The network carries coverage of Big Ten athletics (including events not carried by the Big Ten's other media partners), studio shows, as well as other original programs and documentaries profiling
335-494: A former Big Ten Conference member and former member of the CIC, is not a member of the rebranded consortium, but continues to participate in programs through an affiliation agreement. When considered collectively, BTAA universities educate over 700,000 students, including approximately 525,000 full-time undergraduate students and over 175,000 full-time graduate students. BTAA universities award 29% of all agriculture Ph.D.s, 18% of engineering Ph.D.s, and 18% of humanities Ph.D.s in
402-557: A former Big Ten Conference member, was a member of the CIC from 1958 to June 29, 2016. Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, concessions, and novelties. Total expenses includes coach and staff salaries, scholarships, buildings and grounds, maintenance, utilities and rental fees, recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues, and insurance. The following table shows institutional reporting to
469-459: A meeting in Chicago on January 11, 1895, to create policies aimed at regulating intercollegiate athletics. The eligibility of student-athletes was one of the main topics of discussion. The Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives was founded at a second meeting on February 8, 1896. Lake Forest was not at the 1896 meeting and was replaced by the University of Michigan . At the time,
536-608: A member of Hockey East , and the move would save travel time and renew rivalries with former CCHA and WCHA members. In 2013, the conference moved its headquarters from its location in Park Ridge, Illinois to neighboring Rosemont . The office building is situated within Rosemont's Parkway Bank Park Entertainment District (then named MB Financial Park Entertainment District), alongside Interstate 294 . On June 30, 2022, UCLA and USC announced that they would be joining
603-405: A nationwide trend as part of the 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment . On June 11, 2010, the University of Nebraska applied for membership in the Big Ten and was unanimously approved as the conference's 12th school, which became effective July 1, 2011. The conference retained the name "Big Ten". This briefly led to the interesting and ironic result of the Big Ten consisting of twelve teams, and
670-632: A possible membership that would include Notre Dame. Although Notre Dame's faculty senate endorsed the idea with a near-unanimous vote, the school's board of trustees decided against joining the conference. (In 1926, Notre Dame had briefly considered official entry into the Big Ten but chose to retain its independent status. ) Notre Dame subsequently joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in all sports except football, in which Notre Dame maintains its independent status as long as it plays at least five games per season against ACC opponents. This
737-531: A research output of more than 1000 research papers over 5 years, and no more than 80% of activity in a single subject area ( Times Higher Education World University Rankings ) . The QS World University Ranking for 2021 included 1002 research universities. The region with the highest number was Europe , with 39.8%, followed by Asia /Pacific with 26.7%, the US and Canada with 15.6%, Latin America with 10.8% and
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#1732772721840804-595: A similar distribution, with 185 of their 500 ranked institutions in 2020 coming from Europe, 161 from the Americas, 149 from Asia/Oceania and five from Africa. All regions except Africa are represented in the top 100, although the Americas are represented solely by universities from the United States and Canada. In 2024, the US has the most universities in the top 500 from a single country, 114, followed by China with 103,
871-628: Is membership in the Association of American Universities . The office of the commissioner of athletics was created in 1922 "to study athletic problems of the various member universities and assist in enforcing the eligibility rules which govern Big Ten athletics." All Big Ten members are members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance , formerly known as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. The University of Chicago ,
938-561: The Association of American Universities (except Nebraska) and the Universities Research Association (except USC). All Big Ten universities are also members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance , formerly the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. Although the Big Ten was primarily a Midwestern conference for nearly a century, the conference's geographic footprint has extended from the Mid-Atlantic to
1005-471: The Association of American Universities is "an important part of who we are." All current members of the Big Ten, other than the University of Nebraska-Lincoln , are members of the AAU. Nebraska was a member of the AAU when it was admitted to the Big Ten, but lost this status shortly afterwards. The following table shows National University rank by U.S. News & World Report as of 2023 . Also indicated
1072-655: The Great Plains since 2014. In 2024, the conference gained a presence in the West Coast with the addition of four former Pac-12 Conference schools. Notes: Notes The University of Chicago is the only full member to have permanently left the Big Ten Conference. Full members Full members (non-football) Sport affiliate Other conference Other conference As intercollegiate football rapidly increased during
1139-583: The Middle East and Africa with 7%. All regions except the Middle East and Africa were represented in the top 100. The largest number of new entrants to the rankings were from East Asia and Eastern Europe , followed by Southern Europe . By individual country, the US has the most institutions with 151, followed by the UK with 84, China with 51, and Germany with 45. The top 200 shows a similar pattern with
1206-674: The NCAA . It is based in the Chicago area in Rosemont, Illinois . For many decades the conference consisted of ten prominent universities, which accounts for its name. On August 2, 2024, the conference expanded to 18 member institutions and 2 affiliate institutions. 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,
1273-677: The United States Department of Education as shown on the DOE Equity in Athletics website for the 2022–23 academic year. The following table shows revenue specifically from NCAA / Conference Distributions, Media Rights, and Post-Season Football reported by the Knight Commission for the 2021–22 academic year. Commissioner Jim Delany began to explore the formation of a Big Ten-specific channel in 2004 after
1340-470: The University of California , have served as models for research universities around the world. Having one or more universities based on the American model (including the use of English as a lingua franca ) is a badge of "social progress and modernity " for the contemporary nation-state . The Americans' continued dominance into the early 21st century has forced their European counterparts to confront
1407-440: The University of Chicago , one of the founding members of the Big Ten who withdrew from the conference in 1946, was accepted. Following its admittance to the Big Ten in 1990, the CIC invited Pennsylvania State University to join the consortium. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln also joined the consortium in 2011 following the school's admittance to the Big Ten. The University of Maryland and Rutgers University , who joined
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#17327727218401474-490: The 1890s, so did the ruthless nature of the game. Tempers flared, fights erupted, and injuries soared. Between 1880 and 1905, college football players suffered more than 325 deaths and 1,149 injuries. To deal with mounting criticism of the game, Purdue University president James Henry Smart invited the presidents of the University of Chicago , University of Illinois , Lake Forest College , University of Minnesota , Northwestern University , and University of Wisconsin to
1541-562: The 2007–08 season and ending with the 2016–17 season that would split Big Ten coverage among the ESPN networks, CBS Sports, and Big Ten Network, thus ending Comcast Chicago's regional coverage of the conference. In 2010, the Big Ten announced the creation of the Big Ten Football Championship game starting with the 2011 season and signed a broadcast deal with Fox to broadcast the game from 2011 through 2016. In 2016,
1608-548: The 2023–24 academic year, ending an association between the conference and ESPN dating back to the 1980s. A major goal for the new contracts was to establish specific broadcast windows for Big Ten football games across its three partners, with Fox, CBS, and NBC primarily holding rights to Noon ET, 3:30 p.m. ET, and primetime games, respectively, and the three broadcasters alternating first pick of games. The contracts were estimated to be worth at least $ 7 billion, but also reportedly includes an "escalator clause" that will raise
1675-419: The American military–industrial complex and developing artificial intelligence , and Berkeley and Stanford played a central role in the development of Silicon Valley . The "most prestigious group of research universities" in the United States is the Association of American Universities . Since the 1960s, American research universities, especially the leading American public research university system ,
1742-518: The American context, as having values of intellectual freedom, initiative and creativity, excellence, and openness, with such additional characteristics as: Global university rankings use metrics that primarily measure research to rank universities. Some also have criteria for inclusion based on the concept of a research university such as teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and conducting work in multiple faculties ( QS World University Rankings ), or teaching undergraduates, having
1809-626: The Atlantic Coast Conference), other schools competing as independents in some cases concluded that the inability to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament was becoming a more serious competitive disadvantage in scheduling and recruiting. On March 23, 2016, the Big Ten Conference and Notre Dame announced the Fighting Irish would become a men's ice hockey affiliate beginning with the 2017–18 season. Notre Dame had been
1876-576: The Big 12 consisting of ten teams (with fellow former Big 12 member Colorado 's move to the Pac-12 Conference ). As part of the agreement to join the Big Ten, Nebraska would not receive a full share of the media revenue for the first six years of its membership, until fall 2017. On September 1, 2010, Delany revealed the conference's football divisional split, but noted that the division names would be announced later. Those division names, as well as
1943-535: The Big Ten Conference alongside UCLA and USC. Unlike UCLA and USC, the two schools would receive a reduced media revenue share of $ 30 million each, with the share increasing by $ 1 million for each school each year, through the 2029–30 season. Rather than reducing the other conference members' revenue shares, Fox is contributing the necessary money. The schools will receive a full share with the next media deal. In June 2023 – after UCLA and USC were confirmed as incoming members but before Oregon and Washington were added –
2010-603: The Big Ten Conference effective August 2, 2024, enabling both schools to remain in the Pac-12 Conference for the duration of the Pac-12's existing media rights agreements. Unlike the prior expansion with Nebraska, Rutgers, and Maryland, USC and UCLA would join with a full share of the media revenue from the start of their Big Ten tenure. In August 2022, the conference reached new media rights deals with CBS, Fox, and NBC totaled at an estimated $ 7 billion. On August 4, 2023, Oregon and Washington announced that they would join
2077-453: The Big Ten as its 14th member school. Like Nebraska, both schools would not receive full shares of the media revenue until six years after they joined. However, both schools took loans from the conference, thus pushing back the date they would receive full shares. On April 28, 2013, the Big Ten presidents and chancellors unanimously approved a football divisional realignment that went into effect when Maryland and Rutgers joined in 2014. Under
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2144-414: The Big Ten in 2014, joined the consortium on July 1, 2013. The University of California Los Angeles , the University of Southern California , the University of Oregon , and the University of Washington joined the consortium on August 2, 2024. On June 29, 2016, the name of the consortium was changed from "Committee on Institutional Cooperation" to "Big Ten Academic Alliance". The University of Chicago,
2211-658: The Big Ten. The Big Ten's membership would remain unchanged for the next 40 years. The conference's official name throughout this period remained the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives. It did not formally adopt the name Big Ten until 1987, when it was incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation. In 1990, the Big Ten universities voted to expand the conference to 11 teams and extended an invitation to Atlantic 10 Conference member and football independent Pennsylvania State University , which accepted it. When Penn State joined in 1990, it
2278-718: The Big Ten. Current member cancer centers are as follows: Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G , formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference , among others) is the oldest NCAA 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,
2345-690: The UK with 35 and Germany with 35. The top 200 shows the similar pattern: the US with 59 followed by China with 37 and the UK with 20. The 2024 Times Higher Education only gives a breakdown by country and only for its top 200; this again has the U.S. at the top with 56, followed by the UK with 25, Germany with 21, and China with 13. The top 200 features one university from Africa, the University of Cape Town in South Africa , but none from Latin America . The U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities Ranking 2021 gives numbers by country for
2412-526: The US having 45 universities, the UK 26 and Germany 12. By comparison, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (2015) identifies 115 US universities as "Doctoral Universities: Highest Research Activity" and a further 107 as "Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity", while Altbach estimated that there were around 220 research universities in the US in 2013. The Academic Ranking of World Universities shows
2479-438: The United States and Japan also have well-known private research institutions. Institutions of higher education that are not research universities or do not aspire to that designation, such as liberal arts colleges , instead place more emphasis on student instruction or other aspects of tertiary education, whereas research university faculty members, in contrast, are under more pressure to publish or perish . The concept of
2546-593: The United States annually. BTAA members, when viewed collectively, conducted a combined total of $ 17.4 billion in funded research and BTAA libraries own over 140 million volumes. Collectively, BTAA members employ approximately 57,000 full-time instructional staff. The BTAA's collaborative efforts span the academic enterprise of its members, including: A related institution to the BTAA, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium (BTCRC) unites
2613-488: The cancer research centers of Big Ten universities through collaborative oncology trials. 14 members of the BTAA are members of the BTCRC, as well as the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Plans are in place to expand membership to include the University of California Los Angeles , the University of Southern California , the University of Oregon , and the University of Washington with the addition of these universities to
2680-457: The conference and its members. The impact of Big Ten Network influenced the conference's expansion in the 2010s, with some of its newer members being located in proximity to major media markets such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C. (Maryland) and the New York metropolitan area (Rutgers). Accompanying the new network announcement was a new ten-year media rights agreement beginning with
2747-421: The conference announced a new six-year media rights deal worth $ 2.64 billion with Fox Sports, CBS Sports, and ESPN to take effect with the start of the 2017–18 season and ending with the 2022–23 season. The size of the deal translated to a near tripling of the per-school media revenue share. The new deal would see regular season Big Ten football games airing on Fox and Fox Sports 1 for the first time. As part of
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2814-509: The conference announced that starting in 2024, the East and West divisions for football would be eliminated. Each team would play nine conference games and three non-conference games, as before. Within a four-year period, each team would play at least two games against every other team – one at home and one away. This plan called for 11 protected matchups to take place every year; these included Michigan-Ohio State and ten other regional rivalries. At
2881-617: The conference as the Big Nine was in 1899 after Iowa and Indiana had joined. Nebraska first petitioned to join the league in 1900 and again in 1911, but was turned away both times. In 1905, the conference was officially incorporated as the "Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives". In April 1907, Michigan was voted out of the conference for refusing to adhere to league rules limiting football teams to no more than five games and players to three years of eligibility. Ohio State joined in 1912. The first known references to
2948-693: The conference as the Big Ten were in December 1916, when Michigan rejoined the conference after a nine-year absence. The conference was again known as the Big Nine after the University of Chicago decided to de-emphasize varsity athletics just after World War II. In 1939 UChicago President Robert Maynard Hutchins made the decision to abolish the football program, based on his negative views of big-time college football's excesses and associated problems of
3015-499: The conference did not actually have the right to offer the game to NBC. Instead, under the terms of the agreement regarding the operation of Big Ten Network, the channel officially owns the conference's TV rights and then sublicenses them out to other channels, thus Fox has a stake in any content BTN sublicenses. The Big Ten Conference sponsors championship competition in 14 men's and 14 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Notes: Research universities A research university or
3082-401: The conference's new logo, were made public on December 13, 2010. For its new logo, the conference replaced the "hidden 11" logo with one that uses the "B1G" character combination in its branding. Delany did not comment on the logo that day, but it was immediately evident that the new logo would "allow fans to see 'BIG' and '10' in a single word." For the new football division names, the Big Ten
3149-496: The deal, Fox would retain its coverage of the Big Ten Championship as well as obtain priority over ESPN when drafting regular season football games prior to each season. It would also put an end to ESPN's coverage of the Big Ten men's basketball tournament. On August 18, 2022, the Big Ten announced that it had reached seven-year broadcast rights deals with Fox, CBS , and for the first time, NBC Sports , beginning in
3216-626: The end of each season, the top two teams in the conference standings would oppose each other in the Big Ten Football Championship Game . The addition of Oregon and Washington added one more protected matchup to this count, bringing the total to 12 protected matchups: Illinois-Northwestern , Illinois-Purdue , Indiana-Purdue , Iowa-Minnesota , Iowa-Nebraska , Iowa-Wisconsin , Maryland-Rutgers, Michigan-Michigan State , Michigan-Ohio State , Minnesota-Wisconsin , Oregon-Washington and UCLA-USC , leaving Penn State as
3283-617: The establishment of American hegemony by the end of the 20th century. Most importantly, Berkeley, Chicago, Columbia, and Princeton (along with Birmingham and Cambridge in the UK) directly participated in the creation of the first nuclear weapons (the Manhattan Project ). Besides that, Columbia and Harvard were instrumental in the early development of the American film industry (Hollywood), MIT and Stanford were leaders in building
3350-644: The highest level of NCAA competition in that sport. Big Ten member institutions are major research universities with large financial endowments and strong academic reputations. A large student body is a hallmark of its universities, as 15 of the 18 members enroll more than 30,000 students. They are all public universities except Northwestern University and the University of Southern California , both private universities . Collectively, Big Ten universities educate more than 520,000 total students and have 5.7 million living alumni. The members engage in $ 9.3 billion in funded research each year; 17 out of 18 are members of
3417-589: The late 19th century, when these fifteen institutions began to graft graduate programs derived from the German model onto undergraduate programs derived from the British model. At Johns Hopkins, president Daniel Coit Gilman led the development of the American research university by setting high standards for recruiting faculty and admitting students, and insisting that faculty members had to commit to both teaching and research. Research universities were essential to
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#17327727218403484-406: The lone school with no protected matchups. The schedule was also updated so that teams will play every other conference opponent at least twice – once home and once away – and will play rotating opponents no more than three times in a five-year period. All current members of the Big Ten are doctorate-granting universities. Former conference commissioner Jim Delany said in 2010 that membership in
3551-466: The new "Legends" and "Leaders" divisions were not met with enthusiasm. Some traditional rivals, including Ohio State and Michigan, were placed in separate divisions. For the football season, each team played the others in its division, one "cross-over" rivalry game, and two rotating cross-divisional games. At the end of the regular season the two division winners met in a new Big Ten Football Championship Game . The Legends and Leaders divisional alignment
3618-583: The new divisions was which of the two Indiana schools would be sent to the West; Purdue was chosen because its West Lafayette campus is geographically west of Indiana's home city of Bloomington . The divisional alignment permanently protected the cross-divisional football rivalry Indiana–Purdue . As before, the two division winners played each other in the Big Ten Football Championship Game. The West and East divisional alignment
3685-689: The new plan, the Legends and Leaders divisions were replaced with geographic divisions. The West Division included Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin (of which all but Purdue are in the Central Time Zone ), while the East Division included Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers (all of which are in the Eastern Time Zone ). The final issue in determining
3752-537: The only existing participants. Coincident with the addition of Maryland and Rutgers, Michigan agreed to upgrade its successful club team to varsity status, giving the Big Ten five sponsoring schools, one short of the minimum six for an automatic bid. Johns Hopkins University opted to join the conference as its first affiliate member beginning in 2014. Johns Hopkins had been independent in men's lacrosse for 130 years, claiming 44 national championships. As long-time independents joined conferences (for example, Syracuse joining
3819-404: The organization was more commonly known as the Western Conference , consisting of Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Chicago, Purdue, and Northwestern. These schools were the original seven members. The conference is one of the nation's oldest, predating the founding of the NCAA by a decade and was one of the first collegiate conferences to sponsor men's basketball. The first reference to
3886-481: The research university first arose in early 19th-century Prussia in Germany, where Wilhelm von Humboldt championed his vision of Einheit von Lehre und Forschung (the unity of teaching and research), as a means of producing an education that focused on the main areas of knowledge, including the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities , rather than on the previous goals of the university education, which
3953-402: The time. Chicago withdrew from the conference in 1946 after struggling to obtain victories in many conference matchups. It was believed that one of several schools, notably Iowa State , Marquette , Michigan State , Nebraska , Notre Dame , and Pittsburgh would replace Chicago at the time. On May 20, 1949, Michigan State ended the speculation by joining and the conference was again known as
4020-540: The urgent need for reform to avoid "declining into an advanced form of feeder colleges for the best American universities." John Taylor, Professor of Higher Education Management at the University of Liverpool , defines the key characteristics of successful research universities as: Philip Altbach defines a different, although similar, set of key characteristics for what research universities need to become successful: A 2012 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report defined research universities, in
4087-554: The value of the contracts if the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were to specifically join the Big Ten. Following the deal's signing, it was later revealed that several schools had issues with playing football games at night in November, with some having formal clauses allowing them to veto games in that timeslot. The conference would also have to compensate Fox $ 40 million for the 2026 Big Ten championship game, as
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#17327727218404154-401: Was believed to be the major stumbling block to Notre Dame joining the Big Ten, as Notre Dame wanted to retain its independent home game broadcasting contract with NBC Sports , while the Big Ten insisted upon a full membership with no special exemptions. In December 2009, Big Ten Conference commissioner Jim Delany announced that the league was looking to expand in what would later be part of
4221-403: Was decided the conference would continue to be called the Big Ten, but its logo was modified to reflect the change; the number 11 was disguised in the negative space of the traditionally blue "Big Ten" lettering. Missouri showed interest in Big Ten membership after Penn State joined. Around 1993, the league explored adding Kansas , Missouri and Rutgers or other potential schools, to create
4288-531: Was in effect for ten football seasons, from 2014 through 2023. On June 3, 2013, the Big Ten announced the sponsorship of men's and women's lacrosse. For any conference to qualify for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, at least six member schools must play the sport. In women's lacrosse, the addition of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten brought the conference up to the requisite six participants, joining programs at Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State and Penn State. In men's lacrosse, Ohio State and Penn State were
4355-505: Was in effect for the 2011 , 2012 and 2013 football seasons. On November 19, 2012, the University of Maryland's Board of Regents voted to withdraw from the ACC and join the Big Ten as its 13th member effective on July 1, 2014. The Big Ten's Council of Presidents approved the move later that day. One day later, Rutgers University of the Big East also accepted an offer for membership from
4422-746: Was to develop an understanding of truth, beauty, and goodness . Roger L. Geiger , "the leading historian of the American research university," has argued that "the model for the American research university was established by five of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution ( Harvard , Yale , Pennsylvania , Princeton , and Columbia ); five state universities ( Michigan , Wisconsin , Minnesota , Illinois , and California ); and five private institutions conceived from their inception as research universities ( MIT , Cornell , Johns Hopkins , Stanford , and Chicago )." The American research university first emerged in
4489-529: Was unable to use geographic names, because they had rejected a geographic arrangement. Delany announced that the new divisions would be known as the "Legends Division" and "Leaders Division". In the Legends division were Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern. The Leaders division was composed of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin. Conference officials stated they had focused on creating competitive fairness rather than splitting by geographical location. However,
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