Big Ten school comparisons

Illinois

Official name: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Location: Champaign, Ill.

Notable alumni: Dick Butkus, Roger Ebert, Ang Lee, Hugh Hefner, Andy Richter

Distance from UNL: 520 miles

Sports mascot: Fighting Illini

Football: five national titles, 15 Big Ten titles

All-time series: Nebraska leads 7-2-1

Men's basketball: 17 Big Ten titles, five Final Four appearances

Volleyball: four Big Ten titles, two Final Four appearances

Best other sports: Illinois has won the last three Big Ten men's gymanstics titles, and its men's golfers have won two straight.

Indiana

Official name: Indiana University

Location: Bloomington, Ind.

Notable alumni: Kevin Kline, Mark Cuban, Jared Fogle, Will Shortz, Trent Green

Distance from UNL: 638 miles

Sports mascot: Hoosiers

Football: two Big Ten titles, nine bowl games

All-time series: Indiana leads the series 9-7-3. They last met in 1978, a 69-17 blowout win by Nebraska.

Men's basketball: five national titles, 20 Big Ten titles

Volleyball: four NCAA tournament appearances

Best other sports: IU has seven national titles in men's soccer, and its swimming and diving program has won 23 Big Ten titles and produced 79 individual national champions.

Iowa

Official name: The University of Iowa

Location: Iowa City, Iowa

Notable alumni: Tom Brokaw, Lou Holtz, Ashton Kutcher, Gene Wilder, Tennessee Williams

Distance from UNL: 303 miles

Sports mascot: Hawkeyes

Football: 12 Big Ten titles, 25 bowls, one national title

All-time series: Nebraska leads 26-12-3, but NU has only faced Iowa five times in the last 20 years.

Men's basketball: 10 Big Ten titles, three Final Four appearances

Volleyball: two NCAA tournament appearances

Best other sports: At Iowa, wrestling is king. The program has produced 34 Big Ten titles and 23 national championships. Former Iowa coach Dan Gable is a legend in the sport after he led the Hawkeyes to nine straight national titles from 1978 to 1986.

Michigan

Official name: University of Michigan

Location: Ann Arbor, Mich.

Notable alumni: Selma Blair, Tom Brady, Gerald Ford, Ted Kaczynski, Michael Phelps

Distance from UNL: 753 miles

Sports mascot: Wolverines

Football: 42 Big Ten titles, 11 national titles, NCAA-record 884 wins

All-time series: Michigan holds the 3-2-1 lead in games against Nebraska. NU was a 10-point underdog for their 32-28 win in the 2005 Alamo Bowl.

Men's basketball: 13 Big Ten titles, six Final Fours, one national title

Volleyball: 11 NCAA tournament appearances

Best other sports: It's all about ice hockey at Michigan. The Wolverines have made 21 straight NCAA tournaments, reached the Frozen Four a record 24 times and boast nine national titles in the sport.

Michigan State

Official name: Michigan State University

Location: East Lansing, Mich.

Notable alumni: Chris Hansen, Magic Johnson, Kirk Gibson

Distance from UNL: 728 miles

Sports mascot: Spartans

Football: seven Big Ten titles, six national titles

All-time series: Nebraska holds the 5-0 lead in the series. Bo Pelini led NU to a 17-3 win in the 2003 Alamo Bowl in their last matchup.

Men's basketball: 14 Big Ten titles, 25 NCAA tournament appearances, two national titles

Volleyball: 13 NCAA tournament appearances

Best other sport: Michigan State is one of three Big Ten schools with a men's hockey team. The Spartans have nine Frozen Four appearances and three national titles, most recently in 2007.

Minnesota

Official name: University of Minnesota

Location: Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.

Notable alumni: Garrison Keillor, Bob Dylan, Brock Lesnar, Herb Brooks, Tony Dungy, Tom Lehman

Distance from UNL: 435 miles

Sports mascot: Golden Gophers

Football: 18 Big Ten titles, six national titles

All-time Series: Minnesota holds a 29-20-2 lead in the series, but Nebraska has won their last 14 meetings.

Men's Basketball: nine Big Ten titles, 11 NCAA tournament appearances, two national titles

Volleyball: 16 NCAA tournament appearances

Best other sport: Minnesota prides itself as being the "State of Hockey," and UM has won five national championships, including back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003.

Northwestern

Official name: Northwestern University

Location: Evanston, Ill.

Notable alumni: Rod Blagojevich, Mike Greenberg, Stephen Colbert, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Charlton Heston, John Paul Stevens, Brent Musburger, Joe Girardi, Zooey Deschanel

Distance from UNL: 531 miles

Sports mascot: Wildcats

Football: eight Big Ten titles, one bowl win

All-time series: Nebraska leads 3-1, including a 66-17 blowout win in the 2000 Alamo Bowl.

Men's basketball: two Big Ten titles, one national title

Volleyball: two Big Ten titles

Best other sport: It's easily women's lacrosse. Northwestern has won five national titles in the past seven years and is a rare non-East Coast power in the sport.

Ohio State

Official name: The Ohio State University

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Notable alumni: Bobby Knight, Jack Nicklaus, Jesse Owens, George Steinbrenner