Huskers Look Forward to Competing in Big Ten

On July 1, Nebraska men's gymnastics will leave behind their affiliation with the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and enter the Big Ten conference.  In order to understand the heightened level of competition they'll be facing, one must only look to last season's NCAA National Team Qualifiers for an illustration.

Each season, the top 12 men's gymnastics teams in the nation receive invitations to compete in the NCAA National Qualifier. In 2011, six of the 12 teams invited hailed from the Big Ten Conference, with Illinois, Penn state, Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota and Iowa all receiving bids. With the addition of Nebraska to the conference, the Big Ten will boast over half of last season's qualifying field as conference members.

"We are very excited about joining the Big Ten," Head Coach Chuck Chlmelka said. "The opportunity they give us to excel is outstanding. We look forward to competing with some of the best teams in the nation and we are ready to work hard to compete with the best."

The Big Ten Conference features the most elite field of collegiate men's gymnastics programs in the country. The member schools account for a total of 28 NCAA team titles and 187 NCAA individual titles. Penn State holds the national record for most team titles (12), while Illinois is tops for individual titles (53). The conference's last national title came in 2010, when Michigan claimed the championship with a team score of 360.500. Since 1980, the Big Ten (including Nebraska) has accounted for 16 team titles.

Nebraska is one of the nation's most tradition-rich programs in men's gymnastics, holding eight NCAA team titles (No. 3 nationally) and 42 NCAA individual titles (No. 3 nationally). The Huskers are 45-51-2 all-time against Big Ten schools. In 2011, NU posted their second straight top-10 finish with one of the nation's youngest rosters and will look to improve on last year's scores in 2012. Nebraska's schedule for next season features four matchups with conference opponents. The Big Red will face Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois throughout February and March before traveling to their first-ever Big Ten Championship in early April.