It’s no secret the Big Ten Conference is trying to gain the upper hand in an ever-changing college football landscape. Some schools like Oregon and Washington have already expressed their desire to join the conference, while the Big Ten is hunting Notre Dame and other big fish.
A major hurdle in the past for many has been being a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), which currently has 71 members. Per the AAU’s website, the goal of their member schools is to “collectively help shape policy for higher education, science, and innovation; promote best practices in undergraduate and graduate education, and strengthen the contributions of leading research universities to American society.