The Big Ten Conference, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, was founded in 1896 to regulate intercollegiate athletics, and is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Fourteen world-class universities are members of the Big Ten Conference, including UW-Madison, with Maryland and Rutgers joining the conference for the 2014-15 season.

Although the term "Big Ten" has nothing to do with academic rankings, one major focus of the conference is the quality education of student athletes.