The Big Ten’s academic boastfulness certainly bothers those outside of the Big Ten, but the pride in academics is certainly not without merit.
As a conference, the Big Ten membership consists of an elite private institution in Northwestern and several public universities that can be considered ‘Public Ivies’ (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maryland, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana).
Even the schools not considered Public Ivies (Michigan State, Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State, and Rutgers) have a complex mix of large undergrad population, law school, hospital-based medical school, engineering school, or veterinary school that pumps out large numbers of well-paid graduates and creates an economic engine for the state and surrounding region.