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University of Illinois Athletics

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Big Ten Championships

Big Ten Championships

Illinois has earned 261 team conference championships in its history, 241 by men's sports and 20 by women's sports (last updated at conclusion of 2023-24 season).

Current Sports Total Big Ten Champions
Men's Track & Field 50 Outdoor (29): 1907, 1909, 1913, 1914, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1927, 1929, 1934, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1975, 1977, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994, 2015
Indoor (21): 1912, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1928, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1988, 1989
Baseball 31 1900, 1903, 1904, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1921, 1922, 1927, 1931, 1934, 1937, 1940, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1953, 1962, 1963, 1989, 1990, 1998, 2005, 2011, 2015, 2024
Men's Gymnastics 28 1935, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1989, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018
Men's Golf 20 1923,1927, 1930, 1931, 1940, 1941, 1988, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
Men's Tennis 19 1914, 1917, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1946, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2021
Men's Basketball 18 1915, 1917, 1924, 1935, 1937, 1942, 1943, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1963, 1984, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2022
Wrestling 17 1913, 1917, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1935, 1937, 1946, 1947, 1952, 2005
Football 15 1910, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1919, 1923, 1927, 1928, 1946, 1951, 1953, 1963, 1983, 1990, 2001
Women's Track & Field 13 Outdoor (6): 1988, 1989, 1992, 1995, 2005, 2007
Indoor (7): 1989,1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2013, 2024
Volleyball 4 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992
Men's Cross Country 3 1921, 1947, 1984
Women's Basketball 1 1997
Women's Golf 1 2023
Women's Gymnastics 1 1990
Discontinued Sports Total Big Ten Champions
Men's Fencing (discontinued following 1993 season) 37 1911, 1912, 1913, 1916, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1942, 1943, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986
Men's Swimming (discontinued following 1993 season) 3 1911, 1912, 1913


Big Ten Championship Footnotes

• The NCAA and Big Ten began sponsoring women’s championships in the 1982-83 season.
• In cross country, golf, gymnastics, swimming & diving, track & field and wrestling, the Big Ten Champion is determined by the winner of Big Ten Tournament or Championship event at the end of the season. For all other sports, the Big Ten Champion is determined by regular season standings – with these two time-period exceptions:
     » Baseball: From 1981-1992 the official Big Ten baseball champion was the winner of the Big Ten Tournament. Two of Illinois' baseball championships (1989 and 1990) were for winning the tournament. Illinois did not win the regular season title in either of those years. For years 1980 or earlier and 1993 or later the Big Ten Champion is determined by regular season standings.
     » Men's & Women's Tennis: From 1999-2008 the official Big Ten champions in tennis were the winners of the Big Ten Tournaments. In 2001, Illinois men's tennis won the regular season title but not the Big Ten Tournament, thus, the conference doesn't recognize Illinois as a Big Ten Champion that season. For years 1998 or earlier and 2009 or later, the Big Ten tennis champions are determined by regular season standings.
• The Big Ten does not officially list fencing conference titles until the 1925-26 season. However, the Illinois Athletics Communication office has documentation that Illinois won seven conference titles prior to 1925-26, which are included in the totals on this website (1911, 1912, 1913, 1916, 1920, 1921 and 1922). This is the reason why the official Big Ten records book (pages 40-41) lists Illinois with seven less overall titles than this website.