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Where Are All the Big Ten Conference College Schools Located?
Are you ready for some football?!
The Big Ten Conference has historically been one of the most recognizable college football conferences around, but with recent realignment upping the number of teams in the conference to 18, many of which reside far from the midwestern roots of the original 10 schools, the whole landscape has become a bit harder to keep track of on the map.
Fear not, NBC Insider is here to help you keep track of all the locales of all the Big Ten Conference teams. Spanning states from coast to coast, the Big Ten boasts some of the best college towns in America.
With Big Ten Saturday Night on NBC and Peacock kicking off August 31, featuring defending champion Michigan hosting Fresno State, let’s take a quick tour of where all the football teams in the Big Ten are currently located.
The Locations of All the Football Schools in the Big Ten Conference
Illinois
While it’s been a while since they’ve fought for the top spot, the Fighting Illini football team have actually won a total of five national championships. They play their games at Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois, located about 135 miles south of Chicago.
Indiana
Sure, the Hoosiers are better known for their basketball prowess, but Indiana University’s football team has actually won the Big Ten Championship twice, in 1945 and 1967. Since 1960, they’ve played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana. It’s the 10th largest stadium in the conference, with a capacity of 52,626.
Iowa
The University of Iowa Hawkeyes joined the conference in 1899, back when it was known as the Western Conference, or Big Nine, and played their first conference football season in 1900. Since then, they’ve won 13 conference championships. The Hawkeyes play their home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.
Maryland
A founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (and a national champ in 1953), the Maryland Terrapins football team finally went Big (Ten) 62 years later, in 2014. As they’ve done since 1950, the Terrapins play their home games at SECU Stadium in College Park, Maryland, though they do play the occasional home game in Baltimore. Fun fact: The team has been called the Terrapins (or “Terps”) since 1933, and is named after the diamondback terrapin, a turtle species native to Maryland.
Michigan
The University of Michigan Wolverines, the reigning national champs (their 12th overall), are the all-time winningest team in college football history. So yeah, any time you’re playing an away game in Michigan Stadium, aka “The Big House,” in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filled with up to 107,601 rabid fans, you’re in for a tall task. The team itself started competing in 1879, and joined the Big Ten Conference at its inception in 1896. Other than a hiatus from 1907 to 1916, they’ve been competing for championships in the conference ever since, boasting at least a share of the league title 45 times.
Michigan State
The Wolverines’ cross-state rivals are no slouches themselves, having claimed six overall national championships and 11 conference championships including nine since joining the Big Ten in 1949 (they won their other two in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association). The Spartans play their home games at, appropriately enough, Spartan Stadium, which welcomes 75,005 fans to the main university campus in East Lansing, Michigan.
Minnesota
With seven national championships under their belt, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers have been punching holes in defenses since 1882, and have been a proud member of the Big Ten Conference since the beginning. Since 2009, they’ve played home games at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a capacity of 50,805.
Nebraska
Since 1923, the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers have played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska, and they’ve sold out every game since 1962. Though they joined the Big Ten in 2011, the team made most of its history before that, having won 46 conference championships and five national championships on its way to being the 8th winningest college football program around.
Northwestern
"Chicago's Big Ten Team," the Northwestern Wildcats football team has been playing ball since 1882, if you can believe that. The school itself is based in Evanston, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. The Wildcats used to play their home games at Northwestern Field, then moved to Ryan Field (formerly Dyche Stadium) in 1926 and balled out there ever since. Alas, all good things must pass, and the Wildcats are building a new stadium. In the meantime, for 2024 and 2025, the team will play its home games at Martin Stadium, where Northwestern’s soccer and lacrosse teams play.
Ohio State
The Buckeyes of THE Ohio State University are a perennial powerhouse in the Big Ten Conference, and have won eight national championships and 41 conference championships (two in the Ohio Athletic Conference and 39 in the Big Ten) in their 134-year history as a program. Since 1922, the Buckeyes have played their home games in Columbus, Ohio at Ohio Stadium, aka "The Horseshoe,", aka "The Shoe," aka "The House That Harley Built."
Oregon
One of this year’s four newcomers to the conference (along with fellow former-Pac 12 schools UCLA, USC, and Washington), the University of Oregon Ducks have been one of the most successful college football teams around since the beginning of this millennium, and come into the conference as one of the teams to beat, particularly at their home in Eugene, Oregon: Autzen Stadium. Fun fact: Did you know that the team was actually widely known as the Webfoots until the mid-’60s?
Penn State
Ranking seventh all-time among NCAA Division I football programs in total wins, the Nittany Lions of Pennsylvania State University, aka Penn State, are yet another historic football program in the Big Ten. Even though they only joined the conference in 1993, the team has already won four Big Ten Championships, and has high hopes of winning another one this year. To do so, they’ll have to hold serve at home at Beaver Stadium, located on-campus in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Purdue
The Purdue University Boilermakers play their home games at Ross–Ade Stadium on campus in West Lafayette, Indiana. They’ve been playing ball since 1887, and have mustered 64 winning seasons in that time, including five unbeaten seasons (the last one coming in 1943) and 12 conference championships (including eight Big Ten Conference titles).
RELATED: Which Teams Are in the Big Ten in the 2024 Football Season?
Rutgers
You think the Wildcats have been grinding on the gridiron for a long time? The Rutgers University Scarlet Knights – who played in the first ever college football game against New Jersey rivals Princeton in 1869 – say, “Hold my beer.” Having joined the Big Ten relatively recently in 2014, the Knights play their home games at SHI Stadium, in Piscataway, New Jersey.
UCLA
Another former Pac-12 newcomer to the conference with loads of prior history, the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins play their home games not at the school’s main Westwood campus, but instead a few miles away at one of the most famous stadiums around, "The Granddaddy of Them All," the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, which also hosts the Rose Bowl game every year.
USC
UCLA’s crosstown rival, the University of Southern California Trojans, are one of the winningest college football programs ever, with a total of 11 national championships, 37 conference championships, 13 undefeated seasons, eight Heisman Trophy winners, and and 524 NFL draft picks, more than any other university. They play their home games just off USC's University Park, Los Angeles campus, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which will become the first stadium to host the Olympics three times when the Games come to L.A. during Summer 2028.
Washington
The Big Ten will have the unlikely honor of housing the two teams that played for the National Championship Game in the previous season, now that the University of Washington Huskies have joined the fray. Since 1920, they’ve played their home games at Husky Stadium, located on a beautiful campus in Seattle, Washington. Though the Big Ten represents a whole new challenge, the Huskies have plenty of history too, having won 18 conference championships, seven Rose Bowls, and two national championships.
Wisconsin
Representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the Wisconsin Badgers football program have competed in the Big Ten since the conference first formed in 1896. The Badgers play their home games on campus at the fourth-oldest stadium in college football, Camp Randall Stadium, which has been around in some form or another since 1895.
To check out all these teams in action, keep up with Big Ten Saturday Night airing on NBC and Peacock, beginning with defending champion Michigan hosting Fresno State on August 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
