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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/Baenergy44 on 2024-07-19 20:35:38+00:00.
There has been much discussion and debate about the Big Ten’s potential interest in Florida State and Clemson and their lack of AAU memberships are often mentioned as a significant factor. So I decided to investigate what the Big Ten’s relationship with the AAU actually is and how that could affect either school’s potential candidacy.
| What is the Big Ten? |
|---|
Known as one of intercollegiate sports’ most successful undertakings, the Big Ten Conference is home to a lineage of legendary names and an ongoing tradition of developing strong leaders. Even in its infancy, the conference established itself as the preeminent collection of institutions in the nation, where the pursuit of academic excellence prevailed as the definitive goal.
[snip]
More than 125 years after its inception, the Big Ten remains a national leader in intercollegiate athletics on and off the field. Big Ten programs have combined to win more than 450 team and 1,800 individual national championships, consistently taking home individual honors for athletic and academic accomplishments and fulfilling the Big Ten’s mission of academic achievement and athletic success.
| What is the AAU? |
|---|
AAU member universities—69 in the United States and two in Canada—are on the leading edge of innovation, scholarship, and solutions that contribute to scientific progress, economic development, security, and well-being.
| Which Big Ten members are also members of the AAU? |
|---|
| University | Big Ten Year | Current AAU Member | AAU Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 1896 (Founding Member) | Yes | 1908 |
| Northwestern University | 1896 (Founding Member) | Yes | 1917 |
| Purdue University | 1896 (Founding Member) | Yes | 1958 |
| University of Michigan | 1896 (Founding Member) | Yes | 1900 (Founding Member) |
| University of Minnesota | 1896 (Founding Member) | Yes | 1908 |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison | 1896 (Founding Member) | Yes | 1900 (Founding Member) |
| Indiana University Bloomington | 1899 | Yes | 1909 |
| University of Iowa | 1899 | Yes | 1909 |
| Ohio State University | 1912 | Yes | 1916 |
| Michigan State University | 1950 | Yes | 1964 |
| Pennsylvania State University | 1990 | Yes | 1958 |
| University of Nebraska-Lincoln | 2011 | No | 1909 (lost membership in 2011) |
| Rutgers University–New Brunswick | 2014 | Yes | 1989 |
| University of Maryland, College Park | 2014 | Yes | 1969 |
| University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | 2024 | Yes | 1974 |
| University of Oregon | 2024 | Yes | 1969 |
| University of Southern California (USC) | 2024 | Yes | 1969 |
| University of Washington | 2024 | Yes | 1950 |
| Nebraska |
|---|
Nebraska is the obvious outlier here. What happened?
In May 2010, a month before Nebraska’s admittance to the Big Ten conference, then-commissioner Jim Delany made the following statements about potential expansion:
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany didn’t discuss any specific expansion candidates Tuesday, but he stressed the importance of AAU membership for the conference.
“It’s very important,” Delany said. “AAU membership is an important part of who we are. It was an important part of who we are [when the Big Ten added] Penn State, and it’s an important aspect of what makes an institution a research institution, an undergraduate school, a school that serves the public at a high level.”
A month later, in June 2010, the Big Ten Board of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously to admit the University of Nebraska-Lincoln into the conference. This was their statement:
By unanimous vote, the Big Ten Presidents and Chancellors are pleased to welcome the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to the Big Ten Conference,” said COP/C Chair and Michigan State President Lou Anna K. Simon. “We believe Nebraska is an extraordinary fit, reflecting the criteria we established at the beginning of the process - high academic quality, competitiveness, cultural compatibility and fiscal responsibility. The extensive and in-depth discussions my colleagues and I have had about Big Ten expansion permitted us to act expeditiously and prudently on the application submitted by Nebraska. We look forward to working with our colleagues at UNL in the years ahead.
Nebraska was voted into the Big Ten in June 2010, but were not set to be formally admitted until the following year, July 2011. So in 2010, they were still members of the AAU.
If the Big Ten presidents knew that Nebraska was going to lose their AAU membership then why vote to admit them into the conference?
The likely answer is that they didn’t know, because no institution had ever been voted out of the AAU before in its entire 100 year history. Several schools had voluntarily given up their membership (including Syracuse that same year), but none had ever been expelled. It was unprecedented.
Nebraska’s AAU status survived similar scrutiny in 2000 when their membership came up for review. They weren’t voted out then, and nobody expected them to be voted out this time. It was a shock.
Several months later, in September 2011, we learned that Michigan and Wisconsin, two of the Big Ten’s founding members, were among the AAU members that voted to expel Nebraska.
“It’s not fair to say Wisconsin voted against Nebraska,” Perlman told the Journal Star. “It’s the president of Wisconsin, who is no longer the president of Wisconsin, and the president of Michigan.” Perlman said he didn’t feel betrayed by the Wisconsin and Michigan administrators. “I guess I was disappointed,” he said.
What was the Big Ten’s reaction to Nebraska losing their AAU membership on the eve of officially joining the conference?
Nebraska is a substantial academic institution. It was when its application to join the Big Ten Conference was unanimously approved by the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors and it is today. The Big Ten Conference does not have control over other organizations’ actions. We’re excited for July 1st.
Summary
Every member of the Big Ten is also a member of the AAU except Nebraska. However, UNL was a member (and had been for 100 years) when the university presidents voted to admit them into the conference. Every new member since then (Rutgers, Maryland, Washington, USC, UCLA, and Oregon) are also AAU members.
Make of this what you will.