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A fun off-season discussion.  

There have been 122 seasons of Western/BigTen/Big11Ten/B1G football and in those 122 season there have been 174 Championships awarded.  (Side note, prior to the CG there were 167 champions in 115 years or almost 1.5 per year due to co-championships).  

Michigan is the all-time leader with 42, leaderboard:

• 42 Michigan
• 36 Ohio State
• 18 Minnesota
• 15 Illinois
• 14 Wisconsin
• 11 Iowa
• 9 Michigan State
• 8 Northwestern
• tie 8 Purdue
• 7 Chicago
• 4 Penn State
• 2 Indiana

That seems a bit unfair to the schools that joined later (particularly MSU and PSU).  

Since Penn State's first Championship in 1994 the Nittany Lions are in fourth place:

• 10 Ohio State
• 5 Wisconsin
• tie 5 Michigan
• 4 Penn State

Since Michigan State's first Championship in 1953 the Spartans are in third place:

• 28 Ohio State
• 22 Michigan
• 9 Michigan State

Since Ohio State's first Championship in 1916 the Buckeyes are tied for first with Michigan at 36.  

One of the most interesting things to me is Minnesota's utter collapse.  When they won their 18th Championship in 1967 (split with Indiana and Purdue) the Gophers were in second place all time and closer to first (Michigan with 21) than third (Ohio State and Illinois with 12 each).  The only schools to be members for the entire 50 years since then (1968-2017) and not win a Championship are Minnesota and Indiana.  1968-2017 Championships:

• 24 Ohio State
• 21 Michigan
• 6 Michigan State
• tie 6 Wisconsin
• 5 Iowa
• 4 Penn State
• 3 Northwestern
• tie 3 Illinois
• 1 Purdue
• 0 Indiana
• tie 0 Minnesota

Michigan's current (2005-2017) 13 year title-drought ties their longest ever (13 years from 1951-1963) but I don't think it is quite as bad.  For one thing there were co-championships back then so that drought was worse.  For another that was part of an 18 year stretch in which the Wolverines only won one title (1951-1968).  By comparison, in the most recent 18 years (2000-2017) Michigan has won three titles (2004, 2003, 2000).  

Since Penn State's first Championship in 1994 the Nittany Lions are in fourth place:


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Since PSU began playing Big Ten football in 1993, it's OSU with 11 and Wisconsin with 6 (those 2 shared in 1993).

That eliminates the tie for #2.

True and a fair point.  

One of the most interesting things to me is Minnesota's utter collapse.  When they won their 18th Championship in 1967 (split with Indiana and Purdue) the Gophers were in second place all time and closer to first (Michigan with 21) than third (Ohio State and Illinois with 12 each).  The only schools to be members for the entire 50 years since then (1968-2017) and not win a Championship are Minnesota and Indiana.  1968-2017 Championships:

• 24 Ohio State
• 21 Michigan
• 6 Michigan State
• tie 6 Wisconsin
• 5 Iowa
• 4 Penn State
• 3 Northwestern
• tie 3 Illinois
• 1 Purdue
• 0 Indiana
• tie 0 Minnesota

Minnesota's collapse actually started much earlier and WWII is clearly the demarcation between Minnesota being a powerful football program and not.  
Minnesota won their 16th league title right before the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 and after that, it was over.  Minnesota's 1941 league title was their second consecutive outright league title.  It was also their seventh title in nine years: 1933-1941 with titles in 1933, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, and 41.  Additionally, all but the 1933 (shared with Michigan) and 1935 (shared with Ohio State) titles were outright wins.  
Both of the Gopher's titles since 1941 were shared:

• In 1960 the Gophers and Hawkeyes shared the title at 5-1.  
• In 1967 the Gophers, Boilermakers, and Hoosiers shared the title at 6-1.  

What really illustrates just how dramatic Minnesota's collapse was is to just look at 1896-1941 titles compared to 1942-2017 titles:
1896-1941 titles:

• 16 Minnesota
• 15 Michigan
• 8 Illinois
• 7 Chicago
• 5 Northwestern
• tie 5 Wisconsin
• tie 5 Ohio State
• 4 Purdue
• 3 Iowa

1942-2017 titles:

• 31 Ohio State
• 27 Michigan
• 9 Wisconsin
• tie 9 Michigan State
• 8 Iowa
• 7 Illinois
• 4 Purdue
• tie 4 Penn State
• 3 Northwestern
• 2 Indiana
• tie 2 Minnesota

Typically when we have these discussions Michigan fans take the position that oldest is most important.  It reminds me a bit of the scene in the Movie Airplane in which the question of "what happened before I got here?" is answered with "First there were the dinosaurs . . ."  Note to Michigan fans: that scene is funny because nobody else views history that way.  For everyone else, the most relevant 20 years are 1998-2017 not 1896-1915 and the most relevant 50 years are 1968-2017 not 1896-1945.  

The leaders in Championships since a given year are:

• Since 2017 (all are inclusive): Ohio State with one.  
• Since 2016:  Ohio State and Penn State with one each.  
• Since 2015:  Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State with one each.  
• Since 2014:  Ohio State with two.  
• Since 2012-2013:  Ohio State and Michigan State with two each.  
• Since 2011:  Ohio State, Michigan State, and Wisconsin with two each.  
• Since 2010:  Michigan State and Wisconsin with three each.  
• Since 2009:  Ohio State, Michigan State, and Wisconsin with three each.  
• Since 1926-2008:  Ohio State with four to 33.  
• Since 1924-1925:  Ohio State and Michigan with 33 each.  
• Since 1917-1923:  Michigan with 34-36.  
• Since 1907-1916:  Ohio State and Michigan with 36 each.  
• Since 1896-1906:  Michigan with 37-42.  

*So three years is the longest. 

It works like a double negative. Two asterisks equals one Big Ten title. 

I was curious about U of Chicago. It is now D-III in football. Don't expect it to return to D-I.

Chicago's enrollment is much higher than I thought -- 16,000. Typical ACT scores are 32-35. Northwestern's typical ACT scores are 31-34.