Though it probably didn't factor into the Big Ten's decision to not invite Cal and Stanford, at some point their academic research cartel would end up attractin

Though it probably didn't factor into the Big Ten's decision to not invite Cal and Stanford, at some point their academic research cartel would end up attracting the attention of someone in government or politics that doesn't believe such a cartel serves the purpose of their research funders, primarily the US government. If Vanderbilt loses out on a grant that goes to a less appropriate research group at Nebraska simply because Vanderbilt is in the SEC while Nebraska is in the Big Ten, does that best serve the taxpayers funding the research? With Cal and Stanford in the cartel, the weight of those connections would be very heavy and hard to ignore.