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University of Oregon, UCLA, USC and University of Washington Officially Join Big Ten Conference
ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference today officially admitted the University of Oregon, UCLA, USC and the University of Washington, bringing the total number of member institutions to 18. Competition will begin this season for all conference sports.
“We are excited today to officially welcome the University of Oregon, UCLA, USC and the University of Washington to the Big Ten Conference,” said Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti. “All four institutions feature a combination of world class academics and athletics that are a great fit for our conference, and we look forward to building long-lasting relationships with the administrators, coaches, student-athletes, alumni and fans.”
On June 30, 2022, the Big Ten’s Council of Presidents/Chancellors (COP/C) voted unanimously to admit the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California (USC). A little more than a year later, on August 4, 2023, the COP/C voted unanimously once more to admit the University of Oregon and the University of Washington, with all four schools joining the Conference on August 2, 2024.
Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington are all members of the Association of American Universities, an organization of American research institutions devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Today, they also become members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, where Big Ten institutions lead the nation with more than 75,000 instructional staff, 810,000 students, $17.4 billion in annual research expenditures, and 145 million library volumes, representing 25 percent of all print titles in North America. Collaboration through the Big Ten Academic Alliance allows the universities to work more effectively and efficiently by, among other things, sharing a high-speed fiber optic network, offering an array of leadership development programs, building shared infrastructure, and seamlessly sharing library resources.
Athletically, Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington have won a combined 302 NCAA team championships and have 49 Olympians on Team USA at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. On the football field, they’ve combined for 10 Heisman Trophies, 73 College Football Hall of Famers, 41 Rose Bowl championships and 173 First Round NFL draft picks, including six this year.
The University of Oregon is a Carnegie R1 research university and a member of the Association of American Universities. The Oregon faculty includes a Nobel Prize winner, a MacArthur fellow, a pair of National Medal of Science winners and a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize. Oregon has more than 500 student-athletes competing in 20 sports and have taken home 38 national championships, including men’s basketball, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field men’s and women’s cross country, men’s golf, acrobatics and tumbling.
UCLA has been ranked the nation’s No. 1 public university for seven years in a row by U.S. News & World Report and is known worldwide for the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletics programs. UCLA is the most applied-to university in the country. UCLA Athletics has more than 700 student-athletes competing in 25 sports and has won 123 NCAA national championships, the second most in the country.
University of Southern California (USC) is a prestigious private research university offering more than 350-degree programs excelling in education, the arts, business, engineering and sciences, as well as in research innovation and healthcare. Sponsoring 23 sports, USC has a long tradition of successful Olympic athletes, boasting more Olympians, medalists and gold medalists than any school in the country. Entering 2024-25, the Trojan teams have won 113 national championships.
The University of Washington has been recognized as the No. 1 most innovative public university in the world and recently tied for seventh on the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities rankings and second among U.S. public institutions. Washington receives more federal research dollars than any other U.S. public university and has been home to seven Nobel Prize winners. In athletics, the Huskies 650 student-athletes compete in 22 sports and have won national championships in football, women’s cross country, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, softball, women’s volleyball and women’s golf. The department annually finishes among the top schools in the nation in the NACDA Director’s Cup.
The Big Ten Conference is an association of 18 world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness. The Big Ten sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women.
The Big Ten Network will celebrate the new schools throughout the day Friday, beginning with four hours of classic games, a special one-hour edition of B1G Today, original B1G Moment and B1G Trailblazers programming for each institution, and the Washington edition of BTN’s Football Training Camp Tour in Seattle. Additionally, the Big Ten Conference will debut an updated version of its fan-favorite “Maps” commercial that will include its four new members.