The Penn State athletic department will be collecting a slightly bigger check from the conference this year.

Stu Durando of St Louis Today is reporting that Illinois and fellow B1G schools will receive its largest payout from the conference to date.

The conference will pay Illinois a record $22.6 million, with $7.9 million coming from the network, according to figures provided by the university.

And because of the Big Ten’s balanced revenue-sharing system the St Louis Today numbers can be applied to every other conference member with the exception of Nebraska who won’t earn a full share until 2017.

So thanks to the continued success of the Big Ten Network, Penn State and its fellow conference brethren will reportedly be receiving close to $22.6 million this year from the Big Ten. A truly staggering sum that dwarfs the $18.3 million SEC schools will reportedly earn and the $12 million Big 12 members will receive on average (Big 12 does not share revenue equally among its members) this fiscal year.

And to think fans were somewhat worried that the Big Ten would fall back into the pack in terms of revenue when TV agreements were first renegotiated by the Pac-12, Big 12 and SEC this offseason.

Apparently, the BTN is emerging to be a far more formidable cash cow than most have expected. Stu Durando’s breakdown of Illinois’ conference payout should provide Big Ten fans with even more reasons for optimism.

The breakdown of the Big Ten’s payment to Illinois includes $16.6 million from television, of which $8.2 million comes from ESPN and ABC.

The BTN, just 4 years running, has pretty much already closed the gap with the more established networks in its ability to fill our coffers. Of the $22.6 million Penn State is set to receive, $7.9 million will come from the BTN. That’s just $300,000 less than the $8.2 million each B1G members is currently receiving from the ESPN and ABC.

Just 4 years in, the BTN is almost generating as much revenue for the conference as ESPN and ABC. Now imagine the revenue stream should the Big Ten Network continues to grow as analysts expect.

The Big Ten Network continued to see its revenue grow in 2010. It generated $227 million as advertising revenue jumped 22 percent over 2009 based on statistics from industry analyst Derek Baine of SNL Kagan.

Estimates by SNL Kagan suggest the network will continue to be a boon for the Big Ten. By 2015, the BTN is projected to generate $333 million.

As it stands now, the BTN generates $7.9 million for its member schools, a whopping 21 percent increase from last year’s $6.5 million share. This year’s $22.6 million payout is also more than a $2 million increase from the $20 million each members received last fiscal year and the $19 million payout earned in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

And to think the Big Ten gets to renegotiate it’s television contract with ABC/ESPN, one that is set to expire in 2016, pretty soon. In light of recent TV agreements signed with the Pac-12, Big 12 and SEC, that number could very well be astronomical.