The big ten conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the big ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in student-athletes' lives and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness.

The conference collects revenue on behalf of the member schools from football and basketball television contracts, bowl games, football championship game, and basketball tournaments, as well as grants from the national collegiate athletic association (ncaa), and remits the revenue to the member schools' athletic department. championships - the conference declares conference champions in twenty-eight sports and oversees twenty-seven season-ending championships/tournaments. officiating - the conference provides neutral third-party officials for several conference-sponsored sports (baseball, basketball, field hockey, football, volleyball, men's soccer, women's soccer, women's lacrosse, softball, wrestling and ice hockey); oversees management of the officiating program (e. G. , assigning officials, finance administration, etc. ); and administers annual clinics, rule reviews, and other programs designed to enhance the skills of participating officials.