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Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game

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The Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game is an annual college football game that determines the season champion of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). The game is played between the SBC regular-season divisional champions from the East and West divisions. First contested in 2018, the game is typically played on the first Saturday of December. The current champion is the Troy Trojans .

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118-496: In 1987, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) approved a proposal made by two Division II conferences that allowed any conference with 12 football members to split into divisions and stage a championship game between the divisional winners, with that game not counting against NCAA limits on regular-season contests. However, the rule would not see its first use until 1992, when

236-672: 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

354-764: A National Collegiate title equivalent to a Division I title even if the champion is primarily a member of Division II or III. These championships are largely dominated by teams that are otherwise members of Division I, but current non-Division I teams have won 40 National Collegiate championships since the University Division/College Division split as of 2022 (2 in bowling, 20 in fencing, 8 in women's ice hockey, and 10 in rifle). Division III schools are allowed to grant athletic scholarships to students who compete in National Collegiate sports, though most do not. Men's ice hockey uses

472-503: A balance between athletics and other institutional programs." Cost-cutting measures proposed included reductions in athletic financial aid, coaching staff sizes, and length of practice/playing seasons. A resolution was also floated that opposed coaches receiving outside financial compensation if outside activities interfere with regular duties. All the PC proposals were defeated, and two basketball scholarships were restored that were eliminated at

590-534: A basketball championship in 1939. A series of crises brought the NCAA to a crossroads after World War II. The "Sanity Code" – adopted to establish guidelines for recruiting and financial aid – failed to curb abuses, and the Association needed to find more effective ways to curtail its membership. Postseason football games were multiplying with little control, and member schools were increasingly concerned about how

708-518: A bookkeeper. In 1964, the NCAA moved three blocks away to offices in the Midland Theatre , moving again in 1973 to a $ 1.2 million building on 3.4 acres (14,000 m ) on Shawnee Mission Parkway in suburban Mission, Kansas . In 1989, the organization moved 6 miles (9.7 km) farther south to Overland Park, Kansas . The new building was on 11.35 acres (45,900 m ) and had 130,000 square feet (12,000 m ) of space. The NCAA

826-489: A change after the 1957 split was men's basketball; all other sports continued to use the National Collegiate format for at least one season, and usually many more. Some sports that began after the split once used the format and no longer do. This include men's and women's lacrosse, women's rowing, women's soccer, and men's and women's indoor track & field. Some sports, including men's and women's golf, men's ice hockey, men's lacrosse, and men's and women's soccer used to have

944-418: A combined championship between Divisions II and III, but these were known as a "Division II/III championship" in most cases. The NCAA considered these titles equivalent to a Division II title. No sport currently uses this format. The NCAA requires all of its athletes to be amateurs . All incoming athletes must be certified as amateurs. To remain eligible, athletes must not sign contract with sports clubs, earn

1062-513: A delegate to vote for the PC. The graduation reporting proposal passed overwhelmingly, and the proposal for need-based non-athletic aid passed easily. The final proposal to shorten basketball and spring football generated fierce debate. There was a motion to defer the proposal for study that failed 383–363, but the many PC members relaxed, confident of victory. PC Chairman Massengale left the meeting for other business, but during lunch, council members began lobbying and twisting arms to change votes. When

1180-509: 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

1298-548: A foreign language. To meet the Division I requirements for grade point average, the lowest possible high school GPA a student may have to be eligible with to play in their freshman year is a 2.30 (2.20 for Division II or III), but they are allowed to play beginning in their second year with a GPA of 2.00. Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G , formerly the Western Conference and

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1416-606: 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

1534-575: A lawsuit in May 2024 allowing member institutions to pay Division I athletes who have played since 2016. Intercollegiate sports began in the United States in 1852 when crews from Harvard and Yale universities met in a challenge race in the sport of rowing . As rowing remained the preeminent sport in the country into the late-1800s, many of the initial debates about collegiate athletic eligibility and purpose were settled through organizations like

1652-459: 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,

1770-608: 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

1888-405: 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

2006-632: 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

2124-658: A salary playing a sport, try out for professional sports, or enter into agreements with agents . To participate in college athletics in their freshman year, the NCAA requires that students meet three criteria: having graduated from high school, be completing the minimum required academic courses, and having qualifying grade-point average (GPA). The 16 academic credits are four courses in English, two courses in math, two classes in social science, two in natural or physical science, and one additional course in English, math, natural or physical science, or another academic course such as

2242-586: A similar but not identical "National Collegiate" format as women's ice hockey and men's indoor volleyball (Division III has its own championship but several Division III teams compete in Division I for men's ice hockey), but its top-level championship is branded as a "Division I" championship. While the NCAA has not explained why it is the only sport with this distinction, the NCAA held a separate Division II championship from 1978 to 1984 and again from 1993 to 1999. As of 2024 , 12 Division I men's ice hockey championships have been won by current non-Division I teams since

2360-472: A voice vote without ballots. Publicly, the President's Commission (PC) was responsible for establishing an agenda for the NCAA, but the actual language of the proposal stated that their role was to be a presidential forum and to provide the NCAA with the president's position on major policy issues. The PC could study issues and urge action, call special meetings and sponsor legislation. Their one real power

2478-521: A women's championship program. Proposals at every NCAA Convention are voted on by the institutional members of the NCAA. Each institutional member has one representative: the president/CEO or a representative designated by him/her. Attendance by the actual president/CEO was low; less than 30%. Southern Methodist University President A. Kenneth Pye commented, "In too many cases, presidents have not only delegated responsibility, they have abdicated it." Many presidents designated their athletic director as

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2596-441: 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

2714-628: 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 ,

2832-460: Is these caps for men's basketball and football players benefit the athletes' schools (through rent-seeking ) at the expense of the athletes. Economists have subsequently characterized the NCAA as a cartel . In 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that some of these NCAA restrictions on student athletes are in violation of US antitrust law . The NCAA settled

2950-561: 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

3068-471: 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

3186-774: 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, 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,

3304-551: The College Football Playoff committee ranking released prior to the game. † The 2020 game was canceled by Coastal Carolina due to COVID-19 issues. National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States , and one in Canada . It also organizes

3422-607: The Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). In its 2022–23 fiscal year, the NCAA generated $ 1.28 billion in revenue, $ 945 million (74%) of which came from airing rights to the Division I men's basketball tournament . Controversially, the NCAA substantially restricts the kinds of benefits and compensation (including paid salary) that collegiate athletes could receive from their schools. The consensus among economists

3540-655: 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

3658-635: The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) . The IAAUS was officially established on March 31, 1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910. For several years, the NCAA was a discussion group and rules-making body, but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was conducted: the National Collegiate Track and Field Championships. Gradually, more rules committees were formed and more championships were created, including

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3776-548: The Major League Baseball Detroit Tigers . Upon his departure, he predicted, "In the next five years, school presidents will completely confuse intercollegiate athletics directors, then they'll dump it back to athletics directors and say, 'You straighten this out.' About 2000, it may be back on track." Presidential turnout for the January 1990 meeting was good and many who did not attend sent

3894-633: The Rowing Association of American Colleges and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association . As other sports emerged, notably football and basketball, many of these same concepts and standards were adopted. Football, in particular, began to emerge as a marquee sport, but the rules of the game itself were in constant flux and often had to be adapted for each contest. The NCAA dates its formation to two White House conferences convened by President Theodore Roosevelt in

4012-486: The Southeastern Conference , which had added Arkansas and South Carolina the previous year, launched its title game . In early 2016, NCAA legislation was passed that largely deregulated FBS conference championship games, allowing a conference with fewer than 12 teams to stage a championship game that featured either (1) the top two teams at the end of a full round-robin conference schedule, or (2)

4130-677: 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

4248-628: The athletic programs of colleges and helps over 500,000 college student athletes who compete annually in college sports . The headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana . Until 1957, the NCAA was a single division for all schools. That year, the NCAA split into the University Division and the College Division . In August 1973, the current three-division system of Division I , Division II , and Division III

4366-812: The "death penalty" and requiring an annual financial audit of athletic departments. All proposals passed overwhelmingly. Many presidents who did not attend sent a vice-president rather than their athletic director. University of Florida President Marshall Criser stated that "the ultimate responsibility must be assumed by the CEOs because we don't have enough NCAA cops to solve all of the problems." The regular NCAA meeting in January 1986 presented proposals in regard to college eligibility, drug testing, and basketball competition limits. All passed but matters regarding acceptable academic progress, special-admissions and booster club activities were ignored. Many presidents did not attend and it appeared that athletic directors controlled

4484-490: 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

4602-473: The 1990 NCAA annual meeting. Proposals were developed to shorten spring football and the basketball season; grant financial aid based on need to academically deficient athletes; and reporting of graduation rates. Chancellor Martin Massengale of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln was then chairman of the PC insisted that graduation rate data was needed to preclude "further need for federal legislation" that

4720-562: 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,

4838-548: 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

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4956-471: The Association's Council, and legislation was adopted governing postseason bowl games. As college athletics grew, the scope of the nation's athletics programs diverged, forcing the NCAA to create a structure that recognized varying levels of emphasis. In 1973, the association's membership was divided into three legislative and competitive divisions – I, II, and III. Five years later in 1978, Division I members voted to create subdivisions I-A and I-AA (renamed

5074-575: 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

5192-576: 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

5310-535: 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 –

5428-603: 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

5546-453: 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

5664-658: 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

5782-527: The Board of Directors, which consists of school presidents, for final approval. The NCAA national office staff provides support by acting as guides, liaisons, researchers, and by managing public and media relations. The NCAA runs the officiating software company ArbiterSports , based in Sandy, Utah , a joint venture between two subsidiaries of the NCAA, Arbiter LLC and eOfficials LLC. The NCAA's stated objective for

5900-517: The Division I name), with Division I-A consisting of major teams who would continue to compete in bowl games and use various polls to decide its champion and Division I-AA consisting of smaller teams who would compete in the new NCAA Football Tournament to decide its champion. Division I schools without football teams were known as Division I-AAA. In 2006, Division I-A became the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Division I-AA became

6018-489: The Football Bowl Subdivision and the Football Championship Subdivision in 2006) in football. Until the 1980s, the association did not govern women's athletics. Instead, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), with nearly 1,000 member schools, governed women's collegiate sports in the United States. The AIAW was in a vulnerable position that precipitated conflicts with

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6136-450: The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), and Division I-AAA became Division I non-football. The changes were in name only with no significant structural differences to the organization. For some less-popular sports, the NCAA does not separate teams into their usual divisions and instead holds only one tournament to decide a single national champion between all three divisions (except for women's ice hockey and men's indoor volleyball, where

6254-508: The January 1988 annual meeting, and there was not a vote of confidence. However, a year later at the annual meeting, financial aid restrictions were proposed for specific Division I and II sports. Following extensive discussions, the measure was withdrawn and a Special Committee on Cost Reductions was formed to study the issue. Once again, a proposal from the PC was circumvented. The President's Commission met in October 1989 to prepare for

6372-533: The NCAA Council, whose membership was mostly athletic officials, suggested a presidential commission with advisory powers. The Council's proposal may have been intended to block the presidential effort to gain control of the NCAA. The two proposals were voted on by the membership at the NCAA Convention in January 1984. The ACE proposal was defeated by a vote of 313 to 328. The Council proposal passed on

6490-771: The NCAA began in July 1955 when its executive director, Kansas City, Missouri native Walter Byers , moved the organization's headquarters from the LaSalle Hotel in Chicago (where its offices were shared by the headquarters of the Big Ten Conference ) to the Fairfax Building in Downtown Kansas City . The move was intended to separate the NCAA from the direct influence of any individual conference and keep it centrally located. The Fairfax

6608-529: The NCAA in district court in Oklahoma . The plaintiffs stated that the NCAA's football television plan constituted price fixing, output restraints, boycott, and monopolizing, all of which were illegal under the Sherman Act . The NCAA argued that its pro-competitive and non-commercial justifications for the plan – protection of live gate, maintenance of competitive balance among NCAA member institutions, and

6726-516: The NCAA in the early-1980s. Following a one-year overlap in which both organizations staged women's championships, the AIAW discontinued operation, and most member schools continued their women's athletics programs under the governance of the NCAA. By 1982 all divisions of the NCAA offered national championship events for women's athletics. A year later in 1983, the 75th Convention approved an expansion to plan women's athletic program services and pushed for

6844-550: The NCAA moved its 300-member staff to its new headquarters in the White River State Park in a four-story 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m ) facility on the west edge of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana . Adjacent to the headquarters is the 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m ) NCAA Hall of Champions . The NCAA's Board of Governors (formerly known as the Executive Committee) is the main body within

6962-579: The NCAA split into two divisions for men's basketball only, with major programs making up the University Division and smaller programs making up the College Division . The names could be confusing, as some schools with "University" in their name still competed in the College Division while some with "College" in their name competed in the University Division. The split gradually took hold in other sports as well. Records from before

7080-566: The NCAA. This body elects the NCAA's president. The NCAA's legislative structure is broken down into cabinets and committees, consisting of various representatives of its member schools. These may be broken down further into sub-committees. The legislation is then passed on to the Management Council, which oversees all the cabinets and committees, and also includes representatives from the schools, such as athletic directors and faculty advisers. Management Council legislation goes on to

7198-465: The National Collegiate championship only features teams from Division I and Division II and a separate championship is contested for only Division III). The 11 sports which use the National Collegiate format, also called the single-division format, are women's bowling, fencing, men's gymnastics, women's gymnastics, women's ice hockey, rifle, skiing, men's indoor volleyball, women's beach volleyball, men's water polo, and women's water polo. The NCAA considers

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7316-531: The SBC is the only FBS conference that uses a divisional alignment in football. The other three conferences that had a divisional alignment in the 2023 season—the Big Ten , MAC , and SEC —eliminated their divisions after that season. Below are the results from all Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Games played. The winning team appears in bold font, on a background of their primary team color. Rankings are from

7434-502: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA was not subject to that law, without reviewing the merits of the discrimination claim. Over the last two decades recruiting international athletes has become a growing trend among NCAA institutions. For example, most German athletes outside of Germany are based at US universities. For many European athletes, the American universities are the only option to pursue an academic and athletic career at

7552-477: The University Division/College Division split. Like with National Collegiate sports, schools that are otherwise members of Division III who compete in Division I for men's ice hockey are allowed to grant athletic scholarships for the sport. All sports used the National Collegiate format until 1957, when the NCAA was split into the University Division and College Division (which itself was split into Divisions II and III in 1973). The only sport that immediately saw

7670-569: The University of Oklahoma . (If the television contracts the NCAA had with ABC , CBS , and ESPN had remained in effect for the 1984 season, they would have generated some $ 73.6 million for the association and its members.) In 1999, the NCAA was sued for discriminating against female athletes under Title IX for systematically giving men in graduate school more waivers than a woman to participate in college sports. In National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Smith , 525 U.S. 459 (1999)

7788-494: The West division team, as they had defeated Arkansas State head-to-head, with both teams finishing the regular season with 5–3 conference records. In the inaugural championship game, Appalachian State defeated Louisiana, 30–19. The 2019 game was a rematch of the same teams, and again saw Appalachian State defeat Louisiana , this time by a score of 45–38. The 2020 championship game, set to feature Coastal Carolina and Louisiana ,

7906-659: The addition of four new members in 2022— James Madison , Marshall , Old Dominion , and Southern Miss —the SBC adopted a new alignment for all divisional sports, with the new dividing line being the Alabama–Georgia border. Accordingly, James Madison, Marshall, and Old Dominion joined the East Division, with Southern Miss joining the West Division. Troy moved from the East to the West. As of the upcoming 2024 season,

8024-457: 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

8142-421: 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

8260-458: 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

8378-617: 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

8496-580: 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

8614-502: 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, 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

8732-466: The conference would have 10 teams competing in football in the 2018 season, East and West divisions were created with five teams each, with the championship game to be played at the home stadium of the team with the best College Football Playoff ranking. If no teams are ranked in the CFP selection committee, the conference will determine home field using a formula based on six computer ratings that were used in

8850-401: 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

8968-514: The creation of a more attractive "product" to compete with other forms of entertainment – combined to make the plan reasonable. In September 1982, the district court found in favor of the plaintiffs, ruling that the plan violated antitrust laws. It enjoined the association from enforcing the contract. The NCAA appealed all the way to the United States Supreme Court , but lost in 1984 in a 7–2 ruling NCAA v. Board of Regents of

9086-496: 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

9204-564: The early 20th century in response to repeated injuries and deaths in college football which had "prompted many college and universities to discontinue the sport." Following those White House meetings and the reforms which had resulted, Chancellor Henry MacCracken of New York University organized a meeting of 13 colleges and universities to initiate changes in football playing rules; at a follow-on meeting on December 28, 1905, in New York, 62 higher-education institutions became charter members of

9322-626: 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

9440-435: The institutional representative, something Pye compared to "entrusting a chicken coop to the supervision of a wolf and a fox." Beginning around 1980, a group of college presidents thought there was a crisis of integrity in collegiate sports and discussed ways to transform athletics to match the academic model. The American Council on Education (ACE) proposed a presidential board empowered to veto NCAA membership actions, while

9558-406: 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

9676-619: The meeting in January. It was apparent that there was an open conflict between college presidents. The president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Ernest L. Boyer summarized the situation: "There are presidents whose institutions are so deeply involved in athletics that their own institutional and personal futures hang in the balance. They feel they must resist such change because athletics are bigger than they are." The PC sponsored no legislation at

9794-439: The meeting. A survey of 138 Division I presidents indicated that athletic directors did control collegiate sports. Despite a moratorium on extending the season of any sport in 1985, the extension of basketball and hockey seasons were approved. Indiana University president John W. Ryan , outgoing chairman of the PC commented, "If the moratorium is vacated, it's being vacated not by the commission, but by this convention." Following

9912-466: 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

10030-532: 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

10148-572: The new medium of television would affect football attendance. The NCAA engaged in a bitter power struggle with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). The complexity of those problems and the growth in membership and championships demonstrated the need for full-time professional leadership. Walter Byers , previously an assistant sports information director, was named executive director in 1951. The Harvard Crimson described Byers as "power-mad," The New York Times said that Byers

10266-626: 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

10384-491: The old Bowl Championship Series standings. Unlike the conference's sports of baseball and volleyball, which are also divided into divisions, the Jaguars of South Alabama competed in the West division rather than the East. In 2018, Appalachian State qualified as the East division team, as they had defeated Troy head-to-head, with both teams finishing the regular season with 7–1 conference records. Louisiana qualified as

10502-537: 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

10620-404: 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

10738-541: The same time. Many of these students come to the US with high academic expectations and aspirations. In 2009, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby , British Columbia , Canada , became the NCAA's first non-US member institution, joining Division II. In 2018, Division II membership approved allowing schools from Mexico to apply for membership; CETYS of Tijuana , Baja California expressed significant interest in joining at

10856-418: The session resumed, council members began criticizing the PC and quickly executed a parliamentary maneuver to refer the proposal to the NCAA Council. Many PC members were still at lunch when a roll call vote passed 170–150. University of Texas women's athletic director Donna Lopiano complained, "The President's Commission needs to do what it does best, and that is to macro-manage. Leave the micro-management to

10974-404: The size of coaching staffs; limiting how much time student-athletes can spend on their sports; and setting more demanding academic standards for Divisions I and II. By the 1980s, televised college football had become a larger source of income for the NCAA. In September 1981, the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Georgia Athletic Association filed suit against

11092-475: The size of the NCAA Board of Governors from 20 to 9, and guarantees that current and former athletes have voting representation on both the NCAA board and the governing bodies of each NCAA division. The new constitution was the first step in a reorganization process in which each division will have the right to set its own rules, with no approval needed from the rest of the NCAA membership. The modern era of

11210-425: The split were inherited by the University Division. In 1973 the College Division split up between teams that wanted to grant athletic scholarships (becoming Division II, which inherited the College Division's records and history) and teams that did not (becoming Division III), and the University Division was renamed to Division I. Division I split into two subdivisions for football only in 1978 (though both still under

11328-419: The time. In 2014, the NCAA set a record high of $ 989 million in net revenue. Just shy of $ 1 billion, it is among the highest of all large sports organizations. During the NCAA's 2022 annual convention, the membership ratified a new version of the organization's constitution. The new constitution dramatically simplifies a rulebook that many college sports leaders saw as increasingly bloated. It also reduces

11446-402: 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

11564-481: The truth is, they really don't have time to be involved." Bo Schembechler was blunt, "Unfortunately, you're dealing with people who don't understand. We're trying to straddle the fence here because you still want me to put 100,000 (fans) in the stadium and the reason you want me to do it is because you're not going to help me financially at all." In 1990, the University of Michigan head football coach and athletic director resigned his college job to become president of

11682-687: The two finalists being Kansas City and Indianapolis. Kansas City proposed to relocate the NCAA back downtown near the Crown Center complex and would locate the visitors' center in Union Station . However, Kansas City's main sports venue Kemper Arena was nearly 23 years old. Indianapolis argued that it was in fact more central than Kansas City in that two-thirds of the members are east of the Mississippi River . The 50,000-seat RCA Dome far eclipsed 19,500-seat Kemper Arena. In 1999,

11800-554: 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

11918-478: The various expert groups. We will bring back solutions." Numerous presidents were shocked, upset and angry, but the remaining PC members began their own lobbying and arm-twisting. An hour later, there was a sense that representatives who had voted against the direction of their respective presidents had reconsidered, and a motion was made to reconsider by Lattie F. Coor , president of Arizona State University . West Point Lieutenant General Dave Richard Palmer urged

12036-427: The venture is to help improve the fairness, quality, and consistency of officiating across amateur athletics. The NCAA had no full-time administrator until 1951, when Walter Byers was appointed executive director. In 1998, the title was changed to president. In 2013, the NCAA hired Brian Hainline as its first chief medical officer . Before 1957, all NCAA sports used a single division of competition. In 1957

12154-470: The vote, a delegate was quoted, "A lot of Athletic Directors figure they've successfully waited out the presidents...unless the presidents fight back, NCAA reform is flat-ass dead in the water." The PC proposed just one legislative issue at the January 1987 meeting: applying the minimum academic standards in Division I to Division II. It narrowly passed. The PC attempted to again push the reform of college athletics by calling another special convention which

12272-469: The vote, stating the NCAA needed "to make a mark on the wall...delay is the deadliest form of denial." Following discussion, compromise and voting on minor issues, the reconsideration motion passed, and the third proposal was adopted with a vote of 165–156. The President's Commission held hearings beginning on May 9, 1991, to develop stronger academic standards. The President's Commission lasted for 13 years and pushed through initiatives such as restricting

12390-473: The winners of each of two divisions, with each team playing a full round-robin schedule within its division. Several months later, the Sun Belt Conference announced that they would be introducing a football championship game starting in the 2018 season . In 2017, the conference announced the two divisions that teams would compete in, with division winners qualifying for the championship game. As

12508-482: Was "secretive, despotic, stubborn and ruthless," The Washington Post described him as a dictator, and others described him as a "petty tyrant." ” Byers wasted no time placing his stamp on the Association, and a national headquarters was established in Kansas City, Missouri , in 1952. A program to control live television of football games was approved, the annual Convention delegated enforcement powers to

12626-481: Was a block from Municipal Auditorium which had hosted men's basketball Final Four games in 1940, 1941, and 1942. After Byers moved the headquarters to Kansas City, the championships would be held in Municipal Auditorium in 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1961, and 1964. The Fairfax office consisted of three rooms with no air conditioning. Byers' staff consisted of four people: an assistant, two secretaries, and

12744-574: Was adopted by the NCAA membership in a special convention. Under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships. Generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was further divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978, while Division I programs that did not have football teams were known as I-AAA. In 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were, respectively, renamed

12862-488: Was being proposed by Representative Tom McMillen and Senator Bill Bradley . The proposals demonstrated that the PC was intent on regaining control of college athletics and the opposition was immediate. Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference Jim Delany responded, "They tend to want quick answers and you don't solve the complexities of intercollegiate athletics. Yes, presidents are involved, but

12980-401: 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

13098-515: Was canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic effects within the Coastal Carolina program. As a result, the teams were declared co-champions for the 2020 season. The 2021 game saw Louisiana and Appalachian State in the title game for the third time; however, unlike their prior two championship meetings at Kidd Brewer Stadium , Louisiana won over Appalachian State 24–16 at Cajun Field for their first outright Sun Belt Conference title. With

13216-403: 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

13334-473: Was dissatisfied with its Johnson County, Kansas suburban location, noting that its location on the southern edges of the Kansas City suburbs was more than 40 minutes from Kansas City International Airport . They also noted that the suburban location was not drawing visitors to its new visitors' center. In 1997, it asked for bids for a new headquarters. Various cities competed for a new headquarters with

13452-477: Was held in June 1987 to discuss cost-cutting measures and to address the overemphasis on athletics in colleges and universities. John Slaughter, Chancellor of the University of Maryland served as chairman. He stated, "This represents the second major thrust since our commission was formed three years ago. The first involved academics and infractions. This will be equally momentous and more sweeping. We want to achieve

13570-531: 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

13688-505: 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

13806-552: Was to veto the selection of Executive Director. The composition of the commission was 22 CEOs from Division I and 11 CEOs each from Divisions II and III. The true intent of the PC was to shift control of intercollegiate athletics back to CEOs. Graduation rates were an important metric to chancellors and presidents and became a focus of the PC. In June 1985 a special convention was held to review legislative proposals including academic integrity, academic-reporting requirements, differences in "major" and "secondary" violations including

13924-529: 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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