The Big Ten has grown. Again.
Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington are officially members of the Big Ten as of Friday, Aug. 2, growing the league’s number of schools to 18. What better way to celebrate the expansion than with 18 things to know about the Big Ten?
For the newcomers and outsiders, consider this an orientation of sorts. For the Big Ten old-timers, it’s a refresher course that might include something you didn’t already know.
What we can all agree on is that there are 18 things. That’s indisputable.
1. The Big Ten didn’t get its name until 1916
The league has been around for a long time with a few different iterations. It also has its roots in death. The league formed after Purdue president James Henry Smart got together with school presidents from Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Chicago and Lake Forest College to figure out a way to regulate intercollegiate athletics after dealing with mounting pressure over deaths in the sport in 1895.
Over a 25-year period from 1880 to 1905, there were 325 deaths involving football players. It’s wild to comprehend it now in the age of endless targeting reviews, but in the late 19th century, there wasn’t much consideration for player safety.
A year later, in February 1896, the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives (an absolute banger of a name) was founded. Lake Forest College was not present for the founding and was replaced by Michigan. The seven schools were known as the Western Conference, and it wasn’t referred to as anything else until Iowa and Indiana joined in 1899. At that point, some began referencing the league as the Big Nine.
Shortly after, Nebraska asked to join the league in 1900 and 1911 but was rejected both times. They’d finally join the league a…
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