The Big Ten at 18 schools
The Big Ten Conference is an 18-school league stretching from New Jersey to Southern California, and for ticket buyers it offers the largest football stadiums in the country, a nine-game conference schedule with coast-to-coast road trips, and one of the deepest men's basketball conferences each winter. Founded in 1896, it is the oldest conference in NCAA Division I; its seven founders included Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern and the University of Chicago.
The latest expansion took effect on August 2, 2024, when USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington joined from the Pac-12. The same year the conference dropped football divisions, so the championship game now matches the top two teams in the standings.
The 18 members for 2025–26
- East Coast: Maryland, Penn State and Rutgers
- Great Lakes: Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois and Northwestern
- Upper Midwest and Plains: Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin
- West Coast: Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington
Member programs and the giant stadiums
Each Big Ten football program has its own GoodSeats page: Illinois Fighting Illini football, Indiana Hoosiers Football, Iowa Hawkeyes Football, Maryland Terrapins Football, Michigan State Spartans football, Michigan Wolverines Football, Minnesota Golden Gophers football, Nebraska Cornhuskers football, Northwestern Wildcats football, Ohio State Buckeyes Football, Oregon Ducks Football, Penn State Nittany Lions Football, Purdue Boilermakers Football, Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football, UCLA Bruins Football, USC Trojans Football, Washington Huskies Football and Wisconsin Badgers Football.
Three Big Ten stadiums hold more than 100,000 people: Michigan Stadium (107,601), Penn State's Beaver Stadium (106,572 official) and Ohio Stadium (102,780). Deep bowls like these change how you should read a seating chart. In Michigan Stadium, for example, sections run up to 98 rows, so row 20 and row 90 in the same sideline section are completely different seats. A lower-row end zone seat in a 100,000-seat bowl can be a worse view than a mid-height corner. Venue-level detail is on the Michigan Stadium and Ohio Stadium pages, and UCLA's home is covered on the Rose Bowl Stadium page.
Rivalries and trophy games
The conference protects several annual matchups, and these are consistently the hardest tickets on the Big Ten calendar:
- Michigan and Ohio State: The Game, the regular-season finale in late November.
- Michigan and Michigan State: the in-state series for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
- Minnesota and Wisconsin: the border rivalry between two of the conference's founders.
- Oregon and Washington: a Pacific Northwest rivalry that came into the league intact.
Expansion added a new kind of demand: the first visits of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington to Midwest stadiums, and Midwest powers playing in Los Angeles, Eugene and Seattle. A Big Ten school with a large national alumni base often sells a West Coast road game well, so visiting fans can make up a meaningful share of the crowd.
The Big Ten Championship Game and the bowls
The Big Ten Football Championship Game has been played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis since 2011, usually on the first Saturday of December, and the stadium is scheduled to host through 2028. The 2024 game went to Oregon over Penn State, 45–37. In 2025 Indiana beat Ohio State 13–10.
Lucas Oil Stadium has a retractable roof, so weather is not a factor, and the lower-level and loge sidelines are the strongest seats. Demand depends heavily on the pairing and on what is at stake in the College Football Playoff. Many fans wait for the matchup to be set the Sunday before, which compresses buying into a single week.
The Big Ten has been tied to the Rose Bowl Game since 1947, though the playoff era has changed how often that matchup appears. For the 2026 season, Big Ten teams are also slotted into the Citrus Bowl, the Music City Bowl and the Pinstripe Bowl, among others. Tie-ins change in multi-year cycles, so treat these as current, not permanent. The full postseason is covered in College Bowl Games.
Big Ten basketball and the conference tournament
Big Ten basketball runs from November into March, and the men's tournament moves among large arenas. Recent and scheduled sites include Target Center in Minneapolis (2024), Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (2025 and 2027) and the United Center in Chicago (2026). Michigan State has won the most tournament titles, with six. Michigan won in 2025, and Purdue won in 2026 as a 7 seed, beating Michigan 80–72. For the sport nationally, see College Basketball.
Tournament tickets usually sell by session or as a full-tournament package. Indianapolis and Chicago are within driving distance of several member schools, which lifts demand for the later sessions. The West Coast schools have changed the math a little: their fans have farther to travel, so a session built around a Pacific time zone team may have more resale supply.
On campus, sideline seats 10 to 20 rows up are the best view in nearly every Big Ten arena. Seats directly behind the baskets cost less and see less; they make sense mostly for the atmosphere near a student section.
How Big Ten tickets work
Each university runs its own ticket office. Season tickets come first and are usually tied to a donation level that sets seat location. Students buy from a separate allotment, and visiting schools receive a set allocation that they sell to their own donors and alumni. Public single-game sales follow, and for rivalry games there may be little or nothing left at that stage.
That is why resale is how most fans get into The Game, a top-10 matchup or a November night game. Prices on the resale market move with the teams' records, playoff implications, the weather forecast and the kickoff time, which television partners often set only a week or two ahead. A cold, late-November forecast and an 8 p.m. kickoff can both bring more listings into the market. Every order on GoodSeats is backed by a 100% guarantee.
First-timer tips for a Big Ten Saturday
- Dress for November. Late-season games in Madison, Minneapolis, Ann Arbor and State College can be well below freezing at kickoff.
- Learn the bag rule before you leave. Policies differ; Michigan, for example, bans all bags, including clear ones, as of the 2026 season. Check the school's current rule.
- Budget extra time. Walking from parking and getting through the gates at a 100,000-seat stadium can take an hour.
- Look at the row, not just the section. In deep bowls, a middle row on the sideline is usually the best balance of closeness and perspective.
Schedules and championship details are on the conference site at bigten.org.
Frequently asked questions
How many schools are in the Big Ten?
Eighteen, as of the 2024 expansion that added USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. The conference no longer uses football divisions.
Where is the Big Ten Championship Game played?
At Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, usually the first Saturday of December. The stadium has hosted since 2011 and is scheduled to host through 2028.
Which Big Ten stadiums are the largest?
Michigan Stadium (107,601), Beaver Stadium at Penn State (106,572) and Ohio Stadium (102,780) all hold more than 100,000 fans.
Where is the Big Ten men's basketball tournament held?
It rotates. The 2026 tournament was at the United Center in Chicago, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis is scheduled for 2027.
Is the Big Ten the oldest conference?
Yes. Founded in 1896, it is the oldest conference in NCAA Division I.