BIG TEN CONFERENCE
James E. Delany
Commissioner
Known as one of intercollegiate sports’ most successful undertakings, the
Big Ten is home to a lineage of legendary names and an ongoing tradition of
developing strong leaders. Even in its infancy, the conference established itself
as the preeminent collection of institutions in the nation, where the pursuit of
academic excellence prevailed as the definitive goal.
The history of the Big Ten traces back 120 years to the Palmer House hotel
in Chicago, where on Jan. 11, 1895, then-Purdue president James H. Smart
and leaders from the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of
Michigan, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and University
of Wisconsin set out to organize and develop principles for the regulation of
intercollegiate athletics.
At that meeting, a blueprint for the administration of college athletics under the direction of appointed
faculty representatives was outlined. The presidents’ first known action “restricted eligibility for athletics
to bonafide, full-time students who were not delinquent in their studies.” That important legislation,
along with other legislation that would follow in the coming years, served as the primary building block for
intercollegiate athletics.
On Feb. 8, 1896, one faculty member from each of those seven universities met at the same Palmer
House and officially established the mechanics of the conference, which was officially incorporated as the
“Intercollegiate Conference Athletic Association” in 1905.
Indiana University and the State University of Iowa became the eighth and ninth members in 1899. In
1908, Michigan briefly withdrew its membership, and in 1912 Ohio State University joined the conference,
bringing its membership total back to nine. Upon Michigan’s return in 1917, the conference was first
referred to as the “Big Ten” by media members, and that name was eventually incorporated in 1987.
As the 1900s opened, faculty representatives established rules for intercollegiate athletics that were
novel for the time. As early as 1904, the faculty approved legislation that required eligible athletes to meet
entrance requirements and to have completed a full year’s work, along with having one year of residence.
In 1901, the first Big Ten Championship event was staged when the outdoor track and field
championships were held at the University of Chicago. The debut event marked what is now a staple of
conference competition. Today, the Big Ten sponsors 28 official sports, 14 for men and 14 for women,
including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse the last two years. Big
Ten schools compete in a total of 42 sports, furthering the conference’s commitment to broad-based
programming and providing more participation opportunities than any conference in the country.
One of the conference’s proudest traditions began in 1902 when Michigan took on Stanford in the Rose
Bowl, the nation’s first bowl game. Big Ten teams only appeared in Pasadena twice before the conference
signed an exclusive contract with the Tournament of Roses in 1946, making it the first bowl game with
permanent conference affiliations. But Michigan’s appearance in 1902 cultivated a relationship that has
endured for more than a century.
Coupling the academic goals set forth by the leaders of the charter members of the conference and their
steadfast commitment to athletics, the conference instituted the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1915. It is
awarded annually by each conference institution to a student of the graduating class who has attained the
greatest proficiency in scholarship and athletics. It is the most prestigious honor a student competing in Big
Ten athletics can receive.
In 1922, Major John L. Griffith became the conference’s first “Commissioner of Athletics.” Griffith was
the first of five men to assume the role of commissioner in the conference’s history, followed by Kenneth L.
“Tug” Wilson in 1945, Bill Reed in 1961, Wayne Duke in 1971 and current commissioner James E. Delany in
1989.
After nearly 30 years with 10 members, the conference consolidated to nine schools when F