Big Ten Universities is a Division 1-A college rugby conference founded in summer 2012 by ten of the twelve schools that then made up the Big Ten Conference (which has since expanded to 14 members). The Big Ten Universities was formed to improve rugby among the Big Ten schools by capitalizing on traditional Big Ten rivalries, increasing the number of fans, attracting talented high school rugby players, and playing other regional schools, which would create more competitive matchups with traditional rivals.