Penn State and Ohio State will be among the universities in the new Leaders division of the Big Ten, the conference announced Monday.
The conference, with the addition of the University of Nebraska, expanded to 12 universities earlier this year. When Nebraska joins conference athletic play in 2011, the conference will establish two distinct divisions, according to the Monday announcement. Penn State will join Ohio State, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin in the Leaders division.
Meanwhile, the other division — dubbed Legends — will feature Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern.
In a television appearance, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said the division names recognize the past ‘but also … really look forward to training leaders.’
‘When we honor past leaders and take on seriously the mission of training future leaders, I think it goes right to the core of marrying higher education with intercollegiate athletics,’ Delany said.
The Big Ten on Monday also announced a new conference logo and the creation of 18 new football trophies in the conference. One is the Stagg-Paterno Championship Trophy, which, starting next season, will be awarded to the winner of the annual conference championship game. The trophy is named for Penn State football Coach Joe Paterno and former University of Chicago football Coach Amos Alonzo Stagg.
The University of Chicago was a charter member of the Big Ten before leaving the conference in the 1940s. In a television appearance, conference Commissioner Jim Delany said Paterno and Stagg are the two longest-serving coaches at single institutions in the history of college football.
As for the new logo — which is posted to the right of this report — Delany said university presidents, athletic directors and faculty members had input concerning the freshened image. It marks the first time in 20 years that the Big Ten has had a new logo. It will be put to use starting in the 2011-2012 academic year.
Delany said university presidents in the conference wanted to retain the Big Ten name, even as the conference has grown to 12 members. The conference added its 11th member — Penn State — about 20 years ago.
‘I think we’ve really built a lot of brand equity over time,’ Delany said of the Big Ten name. He said the name has historical importance.
‘When you think about the Big Ten, you don’t necessarily think about the number of institutions,’ Delany said, focusing instead on tradition and history.
He said the new logo will be used in university facilities and on licensed merchandise alike.
‘I think like anything new, it will take a little time to get used to it,’ Delany said.
A complete news release is posted on the Big Ten Network website.
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