There are 18 teams in the Big Ten Conference as of the 2024–25 and 2025–26 seasons.

Big Ten team count

The Big Ten expanded from 14 to 18 member schools when Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington joined starting with the 2024–25 athletic year. Before that expansion, the league had been at 14 members since 2014, which is why older articles or forum posts sometimes still talk about “14-team” Big Ten.

Why the name is confusing

Despite the name “Big Ten,” the conference has not had exactly ten teams for many years. The name has stayed the same for branding and tradition reasons, even as realignment and TV deals pushed the league to keep adding schools.

Quick forum-style scoop

  • Right now, anyone asking “how many Big Ten teams are there” is really asking about the current realignment era, and the answer is 18.
  • Fans often joke that the numbers in “Big Ten” and “Big 12” no longer match reality, especially now that the Big Ten is at 18 and could eye even more growth down the line.

“The Big Ten has 18 teams and is still called the Big Ten” has basically become a running gag in college sports forums.

TL;DR: The Big Ten currently has 18 member schools, not ten.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.