On May 20, 1949, the Michigan State Spartans joined what was then known as the Big Nine Conference and adopted the Big Ten moniker as we know it today. The conference would remain unchanged for 40 years, and then in 1990, it would accept the membership of football independent Penn State. The conference would look into adding teams like Missouri and Kansas in the mid-90s as the Big Eight would transition to the Big 12. They even talked to Notre Dame in 1999 about joining the conference full-time, but those talks failed partly due to the Irish’s desire to retain their independent home broadcast contract.
The expansion would not occur until July 1, 2011, when the University of Nebraska applied and was approved for membership. Fun fact, this was the third time that Nebraska had applied for Big Ten membership as they first petitioned in 1900 and 1911 but were denied both times. However, the third time is a charm. Further expansion would occur in July 2014 as Maryland and Rutgers joined as the 13th and 14th member schools.
The list below looks at the all-time records for each school’s football program. Even with their struggles, Nebraska features prominently on the list.
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