when did penn st join the big ten
Big Ten Conference Big Ten universities are also members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, an academic consortium. In 2014–2015, members generated more than $10 billion in research expenditures.[4] Despite the conference's name, the Big Ten has grown to fourteen members, with the following universities accepting invitations to join: Pennsylvania State University in 1990, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2011, and both the University of Maryland and Rutgers University in 2014. Johns Hopkins University was invited in 2012 to join the Big Ten as an associate member participating in men's lacrosse only. In 2015, it was also accepted as an associate member in women's lacrosse. Notre Dame has joined the Big Ten on July 1st, 2017 as an associate member in men's ice hockey.[5]
Michigan State Spartans men's basketball In 1999–2000. Seniors Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson led the way for the Spartans as they began the season ranked No. 3 in the country. However, Cleaves sustained a stress fracture in his right foot prior to the season which forced him to miss the non-conference schedule and MSU fell to 9–4 and ranked No. 11 in the country. After Cleaves' return, MSU finished the Big Ten regular season with a 13–3 conference record and 23–7 overall while being ranked No. 2 in the country and earned a share of the Big Ten title, their third consecutive Big Ten championship. The Spartans went on to win the third annual Big Ten Tournament as the No. 2 seed, defeating No. 25 Illinois for the championship for the second consecutive year.[43] The Spartans were awarded the No. 1 seed, their second consecutive No. 1 seed, in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. From there, the Spartans cruised to their third consecutive Sweet Sixteen with wins over Valparaiso,[44][45] and Utah.[46][47] MSU continued their National Championship push by reaching their second consecutive Final Four with wins over Syracuse[48][49] and Iowa State.[50][51] MSU won every game by double digits despite playing the best possible seed in each round. In their Final Four matchup, Michigan State faced off against fellow Big Ten foe, Wisconsin, beating them in a hard fought game, 53–41.[52] In the National Championship game, the Spartans triumphed over the Florida 89–76, despite losing Cleaves to an ankle injury 3:42 into the second half.[53] The win marked MSU's second National Championship in basketball and Izzo's first and only championship to date.