Big XII Conference

Big 12 Conference

The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of twelve schools located mostly in the central United States. It is a member of the NCAA's Division I for all sports; its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division I-A), the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition. The conference was officially formed on February 25, 1994, when the former Big Eight Conference merged with four Texas schools that had been members of the Southwest Conference, which had just disbanded. Athletic competition in the conference commenced on August 31, 1996. Big 12 headquarters is located in Irving, Texas, which is a suburb of Dallas. According to the Big 12 Conference's website, the use of the alternate names "Big Twelve" and "Big XII" are incorrect; the trademarked name of the conference is "Big 12 Conference" (notwithstanding the Roman numeral XII featured on the conference logo).

Although all eight of the former Big 8 schools are members of the Big 12, the Big 12 does not claim the Big 8's history as its own. However, many fans of the old Big 8 schools consider the Big 12 to be an enlarged Big 8.

Membership

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Mascot	Varsity Sports
North Division
Iowa State University	Ames, Iowa (51,557)	1858	Public	26,160	Cyclones	Cy the Cardinal	18
Kansas State University	Manhattan, Kansas (50,737)	1863	Public	23,520	Wildcats	Willie the Wildcat	16
University of Colorado	Boulder, Colorado (91,685)	1876	Public	28,624	Buffaloes	Ralphie / Chip	16
University of Kansas	Lawrence, Kansas (88,605)	1865	Public	30,102	Jayhawks	Big Jay / Baby Jay	18
University of Missouri	Columbia, Missouri (99,174)	1839	Public	29,761	Tigers	Truman the Tiger	20
University of Nebraska	Lincoln, Nebraska (248,744)	1869	Public	23,573	Cornhuskers	Herbie Husker / Lil' Red	21
South Division
Baylor University	Waco, Texas (120,465)	1845	Private / Baptist	13,886	Bears	Judge and Bruiser	18
Oklahoma State University	Stillwater, Oklahoma (39,065)	1890	Public	23,307	Cowboys	Pistol Pete / Bullet	16
Texas A&M University	College Station, Texas (82,429)	1876	Public	46,540	Aggies	Reveille	20
Texas Tech University	Lubbock, Texas (212,169)	1923	Public	28,422	Red Raiders	The Masked Rider / Raider Red	17
University of Oklahoma	Norman, Oklahoma (102,827)	1890	Public	29,721	Sooners	Sooner Schooner	16
University of Texas	Austin, Texas (709,893)	1883	Public	49,696	Longhorns	Bevo	18

Conference facilities

School	Football stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity	Baseball stadium	Capacity
North Division
Colorado	Folsom Field	53,750	Coors Events Center	11,064	Balch Fieldhouse (Club Baseball)	4,000
Iowa State	Jack Trice Stadium	55,000	Hilton Coliseum	14,092	Cap Timm Field (Club Baseball)	3,000
Kansas	Memorial Stadium	50,071	Allen Fieldhouse	16,300	Hoglund Ballpark	2,500
Kansas State	Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium	52,200	Bramlage Coliseum	12,528	Tointon Family Stadium	2,000
Missouri	Faurot Field	68,349*	Mizzou Arena	15,061	Taylor Stadium	3,000
Nebraska	Memorial Stadium	81,067	Bob Devaney Sports Center	13,595	Haymarket Park	8,500**
South Division
Baylor	Floyd Casey Stadium	50,000	Ferrell Center	10,284	Baylor Ballpark	5,000
Oklahoma	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium	82,112*	Lloyd Noble Center	12,000	L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park	2,700
Oklahoma State	Boone Pickens Stadium	60,000	Gallagher-Iba Arena	13,611	Allie P. Reynolds Stadium	3,821
Texas	Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium	94,113*	Frank Erwin Center	16,755	UFCU Disch-Falk Field	6,649
Texas A&M	Kyle Field	83,002*	Reed Arena	12,989	Olsen Field	7,053
Texas Tech	Jones AT&T Stadium	53,000*	United Spirit Arena	15,091	Dan Law Field	6,000

* Note the official capacities are listed on the respective schools' websites. Due to temporary seating, the attendance records are often more than the official capacity. The record attendance for Faurot Field is 75,298, The record attendance at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is 85,313, the record for Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium is 98,053, the record attendance at Kyle Field is 88,253, and the record for Jones AT&T Stadium is 56,158.
**Haymarket Park has 4,500 seats. Its total capacity is listed as 8,500 because an additional 4,000 people can sit on berms along the outfield walls.

Commissioners

Commissioners of the Big 12 Conference

1995-1997 Steve Hatchell
1998 Dave Martin (Interim)
1998-2007 Kevin Weiberg
2007-present Dan Beebe

Sports

The conference sponsors championships in the following sports: baseball (m), basketball (m,w), cross-country (m,w), football (m), golf (m,w), gymnastics (w), soccer (w), softball (w), swimming and diving (m,w), tennis (m,w), track and field (m,w), volleyball (w), wrestling (m)

Among the sponsored sports, all twelve universities participate in 12 sports, while the following sports do not have full participation:

11 schools participate in volleyball (Oklahoma State does not)
11 schools participate in women's soccer (Kansas State does not)
10 schools participate in baseball (Colorado and Iowa State do not; Colorado discontinued its program following the 1980 season and Iowa State followed suit after the 2001 season)
10 schools participate in softball (Colorado and Kansas State do not)
7 schools participate in men's tennis (Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, and Missouri do not)
6 schools participate in women's swimming and diving (Kansas, Iowa State, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas, and Texas A&M)
5 schools participate in wrestling (Iowa State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State)
4 schools participate in gymnastics (Iowa State, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma)
3 schools participate in men's swimming and diving (Missouri, Texas, and Texas A&M)

Additionally, member schools participate in the following sports, not organized by the conference:

Nebraska, Kansas State, Iowa State, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech participate in rodeo. (Rodeo is not sanctioned by the NCAA, but instead by the NIRA.)
Kansas State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M participate in equestrian.
Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas participate in rowing.
Nebraska participates in women's bowling and the coeducational sport of rifle.
Colorado participates in skiing.

Football

There are many national football powerhouses in the Big 12 Conference, and when the league was formed, it was decided that the top team from the South Division would play the top team from the North Division at the end of the season to determine the conference champion.

Teams play eight conference games a season, facing all five opponents within its own division and three teams from the opposite division. Inter-divisional play is a "three-on, three-off" system, where teams will play three teams from the other division on a home-and-home basis for two seasons, and then play the other three foes from the opposite side for a two-year home-and-home.

This format has come under considerable criticism, especially from fans at Nebraska and Oklahoma, who are denied a yearly matchup between two of college football's most storied programs. The Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry was one of the most intense rivalries in college football history. (Until 2006, the teams had never met in the Big 12 Championship.) There has been talk of modifying the current format to allow each team to have one permanent opponent from the opposite division (as is the case in the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference), or for Nebraska and Oklahoma to play a non-conference game when the two teams are not scheduled to meet in conference play.

North Division	South Division
Colorado	Baylor
Iowa State	Oklahoma
Kansas	Oklahoma State
Kansas State	Texas
Missouri	Texas A&M
Nebraska	Texas Tech

Championship Game

The Big 12 Championship Game is held by the Big 12 Conference each year. The championship game pits the Big 12 North Division champion against the Big 12 South Division champion in a game held after the regular season has been completed. The first championship game was held during the 1996 season. Since the 1996 season, the most football championships have been held at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 2008 Big 12 Championship Game will again be held at Arrowhead, while the 2009 game will be played at the Dallas Cowboys New Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Bowl affiliates

Although the Big 12 is currently partnered with nine postseason bowls, only eight slots are guaranteed each season. The Gator Bowl selects a Big 12 team twice every four years, and in the two years that it does not, the Sun Bowl does.

The following is the current bowl selection order and the teams involved in each bowl:

Bowl name	Teams involved
BCS National Championship Game	BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2
Fiesta Bowl	Big 12 No. 1 vs. At-Large bid
Cotton Bowl	Big 12 No. 2 vs. SEC No. 3/4/5
Holiday Bowl	Big 12 No. 3 vs Pac-10 No. 2
Gator Bowl*	Big 12 No. 3 vs. ACC No. 3
Alamo Bowl	Big 12 No. 3/4 vs Big Ten No. 4/5
Sun Bowl**	Big 12 No. 4 vs. Pac-10 No. 3
Insight Bowl	Big 12 No. 5 vs Big Ten No. 6
Independence Bowl	Big 12 No. 6 vs SEC No. 6/7/8
Texas Bowl	Big 12 No. 7 vs. Big East No. 3 (2008); vs.C-USA No. 3/4 (2009)

* Selects a Big 12 team twice every four years ** Selects a Big 12 team when the Gator Bowl does not

Rivalries

The Big 12 has many rivalries among its member schools, primarily in football. Most of the rivalries existed before the Big Eight and Southwest Conferences merged, but the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry is unique, as it was a major rivalry decades before the two schools were in the same conference. Some of the longstanding football rivalries between Big 12 schools include:

Rivalry	Name	Trophy	Games played*
Kansas - Missouri	The Border War**	Indian War Drum	116
Texas - Texas A&M	Lone Star Showdown	The Lone Star Showdown Trophy	114
Kansas - Kansas State	The Sunflower Showdown	The Governor's Cup	105
Baylor - Texas A&M	The Battle of the Brazos		104
Oklahoma -Texas	The Red River Rivalry***	The Golden Hat	102
Oklahoma - Oklahoma State	The Bedlam Series	Bedlam Bell	102
Nebraska - Missouri		Missouri - Nebraska Bell	101
Iowa State - Missouri		The Telephone Trophy	100
Texas - Baylor			97
Oklahoma - Missouri		The Peace Pipe	93
Kansas State - Nebraska			92
Nebraska - Oklahoma			83
Nebraska - Colorado			66
Texas Tech - Texas A&M			66
Texas Tech - Texas		Silver Spurs	56

* Following the 2007 season. **Re-branded as the "Border Showdown" on October 4, 2004. The new name has been criticized for political correctness, and has not been used by alumni, students, or major news sources such as ESPN.

***Changed name from "Red River Shootout" in 2005 to deemphasize war and for political correctness. Played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas during the Texas State Fair annually.

Men's basketball

Although standings in the conference are combined and not split among divisions, the schedule is structured as if the schools were split into two divisions. Teams play a home-and-home against teams within its division and a single game against teams from the opposite division for a total of 16 conference games. This denies Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, formerly in the Big Eight, two games a season against their opponents from that former conference, but does allow most of the other traditional rivalries to be played home-and-home.

North Division	South Division
Colorado	Baylor
Iowa State	Oklahoma
Kansas	Oklahoma State
Kansas State	Texas
Missouri	Texas A&M
Nebraska	Texas Tech

Big 12 regular season champions

1997 - Kansas (15-1)
1998 - Kansas (15-1)
1999 - Texas (13-3)
2000 - Iowa State (14-2)
2001 - Iowa State (13-3)
2002 - Kansas (16-0)
2003 - Kansas (14-2)
2004 - Oklahoma State (14-2)
2005 - Oklahoma/Kansas (12-4)
2006 - Texas/Kansas (13-3)
2007 - Kansas (14-2)
2008 - Texas/Kansas (13-3)

In 2005, Oklahoma won the post-season tournament seeding tiebreaker over Kansas based on their 71-63 home victory over the Jayhawks.

In 2006, Texas won the post-season tournament seeding tiebreaker over Kansas based on their 80-55 home victory over the Jayhawks.

In 2008, Texas won the post-season tournament seeding tiebreaker over Kansas based on their 72-69 home victory over the Jayhawks.

Baseball

The top 8 teams compete in the Big 12 Baseball Tournament at the conclusion of each season. Colorado and Iowa State do not sponsor baseball.

In the 2008 Big 12 Baseball Tournament, The Texas Longhorns edged The Kansas State Wildcats, 15-7.

Champions by Year

Year	School	Site	MOP
1997	Oklahoma	All Sports Stadium, Oklahoma City, OK	Brian Shackelford (Oklahoma)
1998	Texas Tech	AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City, OK	Josh Bard (Texas Tech)
1999	Nebraska	AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City, OK	Jason Jennings (Baylor)
2000	Nebraska	AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City, OK	Adam Shabala (Nebraska)
2001	Nebraska	AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City, OK	Dan Johnson (Nebraska)
2002	Texas	The Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, TX	Dustin Majewski (Texas)
2003	Texas	AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City, OK	Dustin Majewski (Texas)
2004	Oklahoma State	Ameriquest Field in Arlington, Arlington, TX	Cody Ehlers (Missouri)
2005	Nebraska	AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City, OK	Curtis Ledbetter (Nebraska)
2006	Kansas	AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City, OK	Matt Baty (Kansas)
2007	Texas A&M	AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City, OK	Craig Stinson (Texas A&M)
2008	Texas	AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City, OK	Brandon Belt (Texas)

By School

School	Appearances	W-L	Pct	Tourney Titles	Title Years
Baylor	12	20-18	.526	0
Iowa State	1	1-2	.333	0
Kansas	3	4-4	.500	1	2006
Kansas State	3	3-4	.429	0
Missouri	10	13-16	.448	0
Nebraska	10	28-10	.737	4	1999, 2000, 2001, 2005
Oklahoma	12	17-20	.459	1	1997
Oklahoma State	12	10-22	.313	1	2004
Texas	10	20-14	.588	3	2002, 2003, 2008
Texas A&M	10	15-16	.484	1	2007
Texas Tech	9	12-17	.414	1	1998

National championships

The following is a list of all the national championships held by member schools. Only championships 1996 and later should be counted towards the Big 12 total itself (40). Football (18):
1939 - Texas A&M
1950 - Oklahoma
1955 - Oklahoma
1956 - Oklahoma
1963 - Texas
1969 - Texas
1970 - Nebraska / Texas
1971 - Nebraska
1974 - Oklahoma
1975 - Oklahoma
1985 - Oklahoma
1990 - Colorado
1994 - Nebraska
1995 - Nebraska
1997 - Nebraska
2000 - Oklahoma
2005 - Texas

Baseball (10):
1949 - Texas
1950 - Texas
1951 - Oklahoma
1954 - Missouri
1959 - Oklahoma State
1975 - Texas
1983 - Texas
1994 - Oklahoma
2002 - Texas
2005 - Texas

Men's Basketball (7):
1922 - Kansas
1923 - Kansas
1945 - Oklahoma State
1946 - Oklahoma State
1952 - Kansas
1988 - Kansas
2008 - Kansas

Women's Basketball (3):
1986 - Texas
1993 - Texas Tech
2005 - Baylor

Women's Bowling (4):
1999 - Nebraska
2001 - Nebraska
2004 - Nebraska
2005 - Nebraska

Men's Cross Country (7):
1953 - Kansas
1954 - Oklahoma State
1989 - Iowa State
1994 - Iowa State
2001 - Colorado
2004 - Colorado
2006 - Colorado

Women's Cross Country (3):
1986 - Texas
2000 - Colorado
2004 - Colorado

Men's Golf (13):
1963 - Oklahoma State
1971 - Texas
1972 - Texas
1976 - Oklahoma State
1978 - Oklahoma State
1980 - Oklahoma State
1983 - Oklahoma State
1987 - Oklahoma State
1989 - Oklahoma
1991 - Oklahoma State
1995 - Oklahoma State
2000 - Oklahoma State
2006 - Oklahoma State

Men's Gymnastics (18):
1971 - Iowa State
1973 - Iowa State
1974 - Iowa State
1977 - Oklahoma
1978 - Oklahoma
1979 - Nebraska
1980 - Nebraska
1981 - Nebraska
1982 - Nebraska
1983 - Nebraska
1988 - Nebraska
1990 - Nebraska
1991 - Oklahoma
1994 - Nebraska
2002 - Oklahoma
2003 - Oklahoma
2005 - Oklahoma
2006 - Oklahoma
2008 - Oklahoma

Men's Indoor Track (4):
1965 - Missouri
1966 - Kansas
1969 - Kansas
1970 - Kansas

Women's Indoor Track (8):
1983 - Nebraska
1984 - Nebraska
1986 - Texas
1988 - Texas
1989 - Texas
1998 - Texas
1999 - Texas
2006 - Texas

Men's Outdoor Track (3):
1959 - Kansas
1960 - Kansas
1970 - Kansas
Women's Outdoor Track (5):
1982 - Texas
1986 - Texas
1998 - Texas
1999 - Texas
2005 - Texas

Men's/Women's Skiing (16):
1959 - Colorado
1960 - Colorado
1972 - Colorado
1973 - Colorado
1974 - Colorado
1975 - Colorado
1976 - Colorado
1977 - Colorado
1978 - Colorado
1979 - Colorado
1982 - Colorado
1991 - Colorado
1995 - Colorado
1998 - Colorado
1999 - Colorado
2006 - Colorado

Softball (3):
1983 - Texas A&M
1987 - Texas A&M
2000 - Oklahoma

Men's Swimming (9):
1981 - Texas
1988 - Texas
1989 - Texas
1990 - Texas
1991 - Texas
1996 - Texas
2000 - Texas
2001 - Texas
2002 - Texas

Women's Swimming (9):
1981 - Texas
1982 - Texas
1984 - Texas
1985 - Texas
1986 - Texas
1987 - Texas
1988 - Texas
1990 - Texas
1991 - Texas

Men's Tennis (1):
2004 - Baylor

Women's Tennis (2):
1992 - Texas
1995 - Texas

Women's Volleyball (5):
1981 - Texas
1988 - Texas
1995 - Nebraska
2000 - Nebraska
2006 - Nebraska
Wrestling (49):
1928 - Oklahoma State
1929 - Oklahoma State
1930 - Oklahoma State
1931 - Oklahoma State
1933 - Iowa State/Oklahoma State
1934 - Oklahoma State
1935 - Oklahoma State
1936 - Oklahoma
1937 - Oklahoma State
1938 - Oklahoma State
1939 - Oklahoma State
1940 - Oklahoma State
1941 - Oklahoma State
1942 - Oklahoma State
1946 - Oklahoma State
1948 - Oklahoma State
1949 - Oklahoma State
1951 - Oklahoma
1952 - Oklahoma
1954 - Oklahoma State
1955 - Oklahoma State
1956 - Oklahoma State
1957 - Oklahoma
1958 - Oklahoma State
1959 - Oklahoma State
1960 - Oklahoma
1961 - Oklahoma State
1962 - Oklahoma State
1963 - Oklahoma
1964 - Oklahoma State
1965 - Iowa State
1966 - Oklahoma State
1968 - Oklahoma State
1969 - Iowa State
1970 - Iowa State
1971 - Oklahoma State
1972 - Iowa State
1973 - Iowa State
1974 - Oklahoma
1977 - Iowa State
1987 - Iowa State
1989 - Oklahoma State
1990 - Oklahoma State
1994 - Oklahoma State
2003 - Oklahoma State
2004 - Oklahoma State
2005 - Oklahoma State
2006 - Oklahoma State

National team titles by institution

Oklahoma State - 48
Texas - 47
Oklahoma - 26
Colorado - 22
Nebraska - 22
Iowa State - 13
Kansas - 12
Texas A&M - 3
Baylor - 2
Missouri - 2
Texas Tech - 1
Kansas State - 0

National team titles since 1996

Texas - 13
Colorado - 8
Nebraska - 7
Oklahoma - 7
Oklahoma State - 6
Baylor - 2
Kansas - 1
Iowa State - 0
Kansas State - 0
Missouri - 0
Texas A&M - 0
Texas Tech - 0

Conference champions

The Big 12 Conference sponsors 21 sports, 10 men's and 11 women's.

In football, divisional titles are awarded based on regular-season conference results, with the teams with the best conference records from the North and South playing the in the Big 12 Championship Game for the Big 12 title. Baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, and tennis titles are awarded in both regular-season and tournament play. Cross country, golf, gymnastics, swimming and diving, track and field, and wrestling titles are awarded during an annual meet of participating teams. The volleyball title is awarded based on regular-season play.