The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, or colloquially the University of Illinois or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois.

Michigan State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan.

The Ohio State University, commonly Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio.

The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, founded in 1847.

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (the U of M or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois, founded in 1851.