The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller Division (sport), divisions, with the best teams competing at successively ...

in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. It is headquartered in

Irving, Texas Irving is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and is an Inner suburb, inner city suburb of Dallas. Irving is noted for its #Demographics, racial and ethnic diver ...

. The Big 12 is a member of the Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) for all sports. Its

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams compete in the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(FBS; formerly Division I-A), the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition. The Big 12 is one of the

Power Four conferences The power conferences are the most prominent athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I, the highest level o ...

, the four highest-earning and most historically successful FBS football conferences. Power Four conferences are guaranteed at least one bid to a

New Year's Six The New Year's Six, sometimes abbreviated as NY6, are the following NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl games: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl. These games are traditionally play ...

bowl game and have been granted exemptions from certain NCAA rules. The Big 12 is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

Brett Yormark Brett Yormark (born September 28, 1966) became the fifth and current commissioner of the Big 12 Conference on August 1, 2022. He has held top positions at Katz Sports, NASCAR, Palace Sports & Entertainment, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, an ...

became the commissioner on August 1, 2022. The Big 12 was founded in February 1994. All eight members of the former

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

joined with half the members of the former

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

( Baylor,

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, and

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

) to form the conference, with play beginning in 1996.
- In 2011,

and

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

left the conference to join the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

and

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

, respectively. One year later,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and

departed for the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

, and

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

and

joined. BYU,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and UCF joined the conference for the 2023–2024 season. The next season

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

, and

joined the conference, Colorado rejoined, and

and

left as part of a more extensive NCAA conference realignment.

Member universities

Full members

;Notes:

Membership map

Affiliate members

;Notes: * On July 29, 2015, the Big 12 announced it would add the six former members of the Western Wrestling Conference—Air Force, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Utah Valley, and Wyoming—as affiliate members for wrestling, plus Denver as an affiliate member for women's gymnastics, all effective with the 2015–16 academic year. * On July 5, 2017, the Big 12 added Fresno State and Northern Iowa as wrestling affiliates. * On May 2, 2019, the Big 12 added Fresno State as an equestrian affiliate. Fresno State would drop wrestling in 2021, but remains an equestrian affiliate. * In 2021, the Big 12 added former full member Missouri as a wrestling affiliate.

Former full members

;Notes:

Former affiliate members

;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Define $now = 07/01/2010 ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/2030 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:lightline value:rgb(0.5,0.5,0.5) id:bg value:white id:FMBig8 value:rgb(0.250,0.800,0.999) # Use this color to denote a Founding Members from the Big 8 id:FMSWC value:rgb(0.999,0.500,0.500) # Use this color to denote a Founding Members from the SWC id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.6,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is an affiliate member for only one sport which is not football id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:FMBig8 from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: Big8 bar:1 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:07/01/2011 text:

(1996–2011) bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:06/30/2011 till:end text:

bar:2 color:FMBig8 from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: Big8 bar:2 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:end text:

(1996–2012) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:06/30/2012 till:06/30/2021 text: SEC bar:2 color:AssocOS from:06/30/2021 till:end text: SEC (wrestling 2021-present) bar:3 color:FMBig8 from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: Big8 bar:3 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:06/30/2025 text:

(1996–2024) bar:3 color:AssocOS from:07/01/2024 till:end text: SEC (wrestling 2024-present) bar:4 color:FMBig8 from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: Big8 bar:4 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:06/30/2011 text:

(1996–2011) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:06/30/2011 till:06/30/2024 text:

bar:4 color:Full from:06/30/2024 till:end text:(2024–present) bar:5 color:FMBig8 from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: Big8 bar:5 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:end text:

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

(1996–present) bar:6 color:FMBig8 from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: Big8 bar:6 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:end text:

(1996–present) bar:7 color:FMBig8 from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: Big8 bar:7 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:end text:

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

(1996–present) bar:8 color:FMBig8 from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: Big8 bar:8 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:end text:

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

(1996–present) bar:9 color:FMSWC from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: SWC bar:9 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:end text:

(1996–2012) bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:06/30/2012 till:end text: SEC bar:10 color:FMSWC from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: SWC bar:10 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:06/30/2025 text:

(1996–2024) bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:07/01/2024 till:end text: SEC bar:11 color:FMSWC from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: SWC bar:11 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:end text: Baylor (1996-present) bar:12 color:FMSWC from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: SWC bar:12 color:Full from:08/31/1996 till:end text:

(1996–present) bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: SWC bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:08/31/1996 till:06/30/2001 text: WAC bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:07/01/2001 till:06/30/2005 text:

C-USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern United States, Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Associ ...

bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:07/01/2005 till:06/30/2012 text:

Mountain West The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Janu ...

bar:13 color:Full from:07/01/2012 till:end text:

(2012–present) bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:01/01/1995 till:06/30/2012 text:

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

bar:14 color:Full from:07/01/2012 till:end text:

(2012–present) bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:01/01/1995 till:01/03/1999 text: WAC bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:01/04/1999 till:06/30/2011 text:

bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:07/01/2011 till:06/30/2023 text: West Coast (FB Independent) bar:15 color:Full from:07/01/2023 till:end text: BYU (2023–present) bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:01/01/1995 till:06/30/2005 text:

bar:16 color:OtherC2 from:07/01/2005 till:06/30/2012 text:

bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:07/01/2012 till:06/30/2023 text: The American bar:16 color:Full from:07/01/2023 till:end text:

(2023–present) bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:01/01/1995 till:08/31/1996 text: SWC bar:17 color:OtherC2 from:08/31/1996 till:06/30/2012 text:

bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:07/01/2012 till:06/30/2023 text: The American bar:17 color:Full from:07/01/2023 till:end text:

(2023–present) bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:01/01/1995 till:06/30/2005 text: TAAC/A-Sun

MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

(FB only 2002-2005) bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:07/01/2005 till:06/30/2012 text:

bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:07/01/2012 till:06/30/2023 text: The American bar:18 color:Full from:07/01/2023 till:end text: UCF (2023–present) bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:01/01/1995 till:06/30/2011 text:

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:07/01/2011 till:06/30/2024 text:

bar:19 color:Full from:07/01/2024 till:end text:

(2024–present) bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:01/01/1995 till:06/30/2011 text:

bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:07/01/2011 till:06/30/2024 text:

bar:20 color:Full from:07/01/2024 till:end text:

(2024–present) bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:01/01/1995 till:01/03/1999 text: WAC bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:01/04/1999 till:06/30/2011 text:

bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:07/01/2011 till:06/30/2024 text:

bar:21 color:Full from:07/01/2024 till:end text:

(2024–present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1996 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(2,30) tabs:(600-center) text:^"Big 12 Conference membership history" # > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

Earlier Membership timelines

Click here Click or Klick may refer to: Airlines * Click Airways, a UAE airline * Clickair, a Spanish airline * MexicanaClick, a Mexican airline Art, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Klicks, alien race in '' Star Drive'' * Click, minor c ...

for the

Timeline which predates the Big 12 timeline for founding members: *

for the

Timeline which predates the Big 12 timeline for founding members: * Baylor *

Current members with the longest continuous association with the

/ Big 12 Conference.

Sports

The Big 12 Conference sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 15 women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

Current champions

''Source'':

Men's sponsored sports by university

Below are the men's sports sponsored by each member institution. The only men's sports with full participation by the entire conference are basketball, football, and golf. Swimming and diving has the lowest participation with only seven universities fielding a team. The Big 12 fields 14 teams for wrestling. Before the conference's 2023 expansion, it had the most competing schools of any Big 12 sport, with 13 members at that time. The 2022–23 and 2024–25 wrestling lineups both included only 4 full conference members; all remaining wrestling schools were affiliate members (listed as a footnote at the bottom of the table). Men's (and Coed – see Rifle) varsity sports not sponsored by the Big 12 Conference which are played by Big 12 universities:

Women's sponsored sports by university

Below are the women's sports sponsored by each member institution. The only women's sports with full participation by the entire conference are basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, indoor track and outdoor track. Oklahoma State is the only member that does not sponsor volleyball, and only Utah and West Virginia do not sponsor golf. Beach volleyball (4 full members) and equestrian (3 full members, 1 affiliate) have the lowest participation, each with 4 total members. With Utah dropping beach volleyball after the spring 2025 season, future Big 12 sponsorship of beach volleyball is uncertain. Lacrosse (3 full members, 3 affiliates) and rowing (4 full members, 2 affiliates) follow with 6 total members. The affiliate members are listed as footnotes at the bottom of the table, beneath their respective sport. Women's (and co-educational – see Rifle) varsity sports not sponsored by the Big 12 Conference which are played by Big 12 universities: * In addition to the above, UCF lists its coeducational cheerleading and all-female dance teams as varsity teams on its official athletic website.

History

The Big 12 Conference was founded in February 1994. All eight members of the former

joined with half the members of the former

(

, Baylor and

) to form the conference, with play beginning in 1996. The Big 12 does not claim the Big Eight's history as its own, even though it was essentially the Big Eight plus four of the Texas universities. The Big 12 began athletic play in fall 1996, with the Texas Tech vs. Kansas State football game being the first-ever sports event staged by the conference. From its formation until 2011, its 12 members competed in two divisions in most sports. The two Oklahoma universities and the four Texas universities formed the South Division, while the other six universities of the former Big Eight formed the North Division. Between 2011 and 2012 four charter members left the conference: *

In 2012, two universities joined the conference: *

On July 26, 2021,

and

notified the Big 12 Conference that the two universities did not wish to extend their grant of television rights beyond the 2024–25 athletic year. On July 27, 2021, Oklahoma and Texas sent a joint letter to the

requesting an invitation for membership beginning July 1, 2025. On July 29, 2021, the 14 presidents and chancellors of SEC member universities voted unanimously to invite Oklahoma and Texas to join the SEC.Dinich, Heather (July 29, 2021).
SEC unanimously votes to invite Texas, Oklahoma to join conference
. ''ESPN''. The following day, the Texas Board of Regents and Oklahoma Board of Regents each accepted the invitation to join the SEC from July 1, 2025. On September 10, 2021, the Big 12 announced that invitations had been extended to and accepted by BYU (a football independent and member of the non-football

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...

) and three members of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

, UCF, and

. These moves, combined with the impending departure of Oklahoma and Texas, would once again increase the Big 12's membership to twelve schools. All four schools began competing in Big 12 athletics beginning in summer of 2023. BYU had initially announced that it would join in 2023, and Houston indicated it could do so as well. On June 10, 2022, The American and its three departing members announced a buyout agreement that allowed those schools to join the Big 12 in 2023. On February 9, 2023, Oklahoma and Texas announced they had reached a settlement with the conference that allowed them to join the SEC on July 1, 2024. On July 27, 2023,

, a former member of the Big 12, announced it would rejoin the conference from the

beginning in the 2024–25 academic year. The following week,

, and

announced they would leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12, also effective for the 2024–25 academic year.

Distinctive elements

Population base and markets

The largest

media markets Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inte ...

represented by the Big 12 are, ranked nationally: * Dallas-Fort Worth (5th) *

(6th) * Phoenix (11th) *

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

(16th) *

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

(17th) *

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

(27th) *

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

(31st) *

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

(34th) *

(37th) *

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

(47th) *

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

(62nd) *

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

(65th) *

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

(67th) * Wichita (72nd) Although

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

is based out of

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Monongahela River in North Central West Virginia and is the home of West Virginia University. The population was 30,347 at the 2 ...

(officially part of the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

(26th) media market), the TV market encompasses the majority of West Virginia's TV viewership and also reaches well into

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the Unite ...

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

is in

Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan is a city in and the county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County, Kansas, Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big ...

, which is part of the

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

media market, but it is close to the Wichita market, which encompasses two-thirds of the state (stretching to the border with

), including the cities of

Dodge City Dodge City is a city in and the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. It was named after nearby Fort Dodge, which was named in honor of Grenville Dodge. The city ...

, Garden City, Hutchinson and Salina. While the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

is in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

, it has close proximity to the Kansas City television market, increasing the base into western

Grant of Rights

Member universities granted their first and second tier sports media rights to the conference for the length of their current TV deals. The Grant of Rights (GOR) deal with the leagues' TV contracts ensures that "if a Big 12 school leaves for another league in the next 13 years, that school's media rights, including revenue, would remain with the Big 12 and not its new conference". GOR is seen by league members as a "foundation of stability" and allowed the Big 12 to be "positioned with one of the best media rights arrangements in collegiate sports, providing the conference and its members unprecedented revenue growth, and sports programming over two networks." All members agreed to the GOR and later agreed to extend the initial 6-year deal to 13 years to correspond to the length of their TV contracts. Prior to this agreement, the Big Ten and Pac-12 also had similar GOR agreements. The Big 12 subsequently assisted the ACC in drafting its GOR agreement. Three of the four major conferences now have such agreements, with the SEC the only exception.

Tier 3 events

The Big 12 is the only major conference that allows members to monetize TV rights for tier 3 events in football and men's basketball. This allows individual Big 12 member institutions to create tier 3 deals that include TV rights for one home football game and four home men's basketball games per season. Tier 3 rights exist for other sports as well, but these are not unique to the Big 12. The unique arrangement potentially allows Big 12 members to remain some of college sports' highest revenue earners. Other conferences' cable deals are subject to value reductions based on how people acquire cable programming; Big 12 universities' tier 3 deals are exempt. Texas alone earned more than $150 million of that total from their Longhorn Network before it was shut down with its move to the SEC. As of 2022, all of the Big 12's tier 3 rights are held by ESPN; it bought the tier 3 rights to most Big 12 teams (besides Oklahoma) in 2019, moving the events exclusively to

ESPN+ ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communicati ...

. The Oklahoma Sooners retained an agreement with Bally Sports Oklahoma (which distributed its football game via

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

) until 2022, when it also sold its rights to ESPN+. Prior to its departure to the SEC, ESPN also ran a dedicated cable network for the Texas Longhorns known as

Longhorn Network Longhorn Network (LHN) was an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between The University of Texas at Austin, ESPN and Learfield (formerly IMG College), and was operated by ESPN (itself owned jointly by The Walt Disney Compa ...

, as a joint venture between the university and

Learfield Learfield (often stylized as LEARFIELD) is a collegiate sports marketing company, representing more than 200 of the nation's top collegiate properties including the NCAA and its 89 championships, NCAA Football, leading conferences, and many of th ...

Business partnerships and innovation

The Big 12 has a sponsorship rights partnership with Learfield IMG College. The Big 12 announced on September 9, 2022, that it appointed WME Sports and

IMG Media IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is a global sports, fashion, events and media company headquartered in New York City. The company manages athletes and fashion celebrities; owns, operates and commercially represents ...

, Endeavor companies, to facilitate its global content and commercial strategy. Commissioner Brett Yormark stated "We have aligned with a best-in-class team to build a best-in-class business strategy for the Conference". November 14, 2022 Big 12 formed a comprehensive business advisor board composed of over three dozen entrepreneurial icons and respective industry leaders. From the likes of Monte Lipman the Founder/CEO

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

Steve Stoute Steve Stoute (born June 26, 1970) is an American record executive who concurrently was Executive Vice President of Interscope Geffen A&M Records and President of Urban Music at Sony Music from 1999 to 2009. In 2017, he founded the music distr ...

Founder/CEO UnitedMasters & Translation, Mark Shapiro President of Endeavor,

Gary Vaynerchuk Gary Vaynerchuk (born Gennady Alexandrovich Vaynerchuk, November 14, 1975; commonly known by his alias Gary Vee) is an American businessman, author, speaker, and internet personality. He is a co-founder of the restaurant reservation software ...

’s VaynerMedia, singer

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

, NBA legend

Jason Kidd Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the List of current NBA head coaches, head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regar ...

, Keith Sheldon President of Entertainment for

Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme restaurant, theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos, hotels and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll ...

International, and Ross Levinsohn Chairman and CEO - The Arena Group &

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

. The Big 12 partnered with creative agency Translation to help build a more contemporary audience and brand. Soon after Big 12 Conference made a deal with

A Bathing Ape , also known as BAPE, is a Japanese fashion brand founded by Nigo (Tomoaki Nagao) in Ura-Harajuku in 1993.

(BAPE) for Championship games. The Conference and BAPE worked together to create limited-edition clothing and a camouflaged Big 12 logo throughout the stadium, arena, and uniforms. The Big 12 has 11 official corporate partners:

Allstate The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois (with a Northbrook, Illinois address) since 2022. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993, but was still pa ...

, Children’s Health,

Dr Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. Dr Pepper was created in the 1880s by the American pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper in t ...

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

, Grand Caliber, Old Trapper, On Location,

Phillips 66 The Phillips 66 Company is an American Multinational corporation, multinational energy company headquartered in Westchase, Houston, Texas. Its name, dating back to 1927 as a trademark of the Phillips Petroleum Company, assisted in establishing ...

, Sonic Hard Seltzer,

Sprouts Farmers Market Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., is a supermarket chain headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. The grocer offers a wide selection of natural and organic foods, including fresh produce, bulk foods, vitamins and supplements, packaged groceries, meat, poul ...

, and Tickets For Less. There are dozens of other companies engaged as sponsors of the conference.

Conference Pro Day

On March 15, 2023, before the

NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

, the Big 12 announced the first of its kind across all college conferences, being a conference-wide

Pro Day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

. Instead of schools hosting separate pro days for their football players, there will be only one conference-wide scouting event before the 2024 NFL draft. The event will be held at the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

training complex, Ford Center at The Star. What essentially would be a conference version of the

NFL combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, the Pro Day would be televised on

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...

Hoops in the Park

In March, the Big 12 Conference announced a partnership with the legendary

Rucker Park Greg Marius Court at Holcombe Rucker Park is a basketball court at the border of Harlem and the Coogan's Bluff section of Washington Heights neighborhoods of Manhattan, at 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, just east of the forme ...

for a community engagement event. In June the event was officially announced as "Big 12 Hoops in the Park", to host men's and women's summer exhibition games. Throughout the event, the Big 12 is also preparing a number of entertainment activities and community engagements. The activities include youth clinics, meet-and-greets, live music, and food.

Mexico

Early June 2023, the "Big 12 Mexico" initiative was announced, which includes men's and women's soccer, baseball, basketball, and football games and an international media rights strategy. Big 12 Mexico debuted in December 2024 with men's and women's basketball games between Kansas and Houston at Arena CDMX in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. The Big 12 will also consider hosting a football bowl game in

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

beginning in 2026. This would be the first-ever bowl game in Mexico.

Conference annual revenue distribution

Conference revenue comes mostly from television contracts,

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

s, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, merchandise, licensing and conference-hosted sporting events. The Conference distributes revenue annually to member institutions. From 1996 to 2011, 57 percent of revenue was allotted equally; while 43 percent was based upon the number of football and men's basketball television appearances and other factors. In 2011, the distribution was 76 percent equal and 24 percent based on television appearances. Changing the arrangement requires a unanimous vote; as a Big 12 member, Nebraska and Texas A&M had withheld support for more equitable revenue distribution. With this model, larger universities can receive more revenue because they appear more often on television. In 2006, for example, Texas received $10.2 million, 44% more than Baylor University's $7.1 million. Big 12 revenue was generally less than other BCS conferences; this was due in part to television contracts signed with

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by the Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

(four years for $48 million) and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

(eight years for $480 million). In 2011, the Big 12 announced a new 13-year media rights deal with Fox that would ensure that every Big 12 home football game is televised, as well as greatly increasing coverage of women's basketball, conference championships and other sports. The deal, valued at an estimated $1.1 billion, runs until 2025. In 2012, the conference announced a new agreement with Fox and ESPN, replacing the current ABC/ESPN deal, to immediately increase national media broadcasts of football and increase conference revenue; the new deal was estimated to be worth $2.6 billion through the 2025 expiration. The two deals pushed the conference per-university payout to approximately $20 million per year, while separating third-tier media rights into separate deals for each university; such contracts secured an additional $6 million to $20 million per university annually. The per-university payout under the deal is expected to reach $44 million, according to Commissioner Bob Bowlsby. In 2022, the conference renewed its media rights with ESPN and Fox Sports for six seasons starting in 2025–26, with an estimated US$380 million average annual fee.

Athletic department revenue by school

Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, concessions, and novelties. Total expenses includes coach and staff salaries, scholarships, buildings and grounds, maintenance, utilities and rental fees, recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues, and insurance. The following table shows institutional reporting to the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and ...

as shown on the DOE Equity in Athletics website for the 2022–23 academic year. The following table shows Big 12 Conference distributions during the fiscal year ending June 2023 (submission May 6, 2024) as reported by

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time reporters, and the resulting stories are distributed to ne ...

using Schedule A of the Big 12 Conference tax filings

Apparel

Facilities

Key personnel

;Notes: ''Sources:''
''†Private institution not required to release coaching salaries''
•Salaries based on 2022–2023 academic year

Championships

National team titles by institution

The national championships listed below are as of May 28, 2025. Football, Helms, pre-NCAA competition and overall

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

titles are included in the total, but excluded from the column listing NCAA and

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

titles. † Co-ed sports include fencing (since 1990), rifle, and skiing (since 1983). Team fencing championships before 1990 and team skiing championships before 1983 were awarded as men's or women's championships and are counted here as such.
Includes titles won under the DGWS, predecessor of the AIAW.

Most recent NCAA championship

National championships

The following is a list of all

, and

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

championships won by teams that were representing the Big 12 Conference in NCAA-recognized sports at the time of their championship. The most recent Big 12 team to win a national title is Oklahoma State men's golf in 2025. Only two years of the Big 12's existence has the conference not won at least one team National Title, 2007 and 2020. However, in 2020 multiple National Championships were not awarded due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. One former member of the conference did not win a National Championship while a member of the Big 12, Missouri. Original members Kansas State and Iowa State have not won a championship while representing the Big 12. The only national championships won by 2012 arrival West Virginia since joining the Big 12 have been in rifle, a sport that the conference has never sponsored. Of the 2023 arrivals, Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati have not won a championship in the Big 12, but BYU has won in women’s and men’s cross country. Men's swimming has the most overall championships with 10, while men's golf has the most different schools win a championship with 4.

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

(3):
1997 – Nebraska
2000 – Oklahoma
2005 – Texas

Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

(3):
2002 − Texas A&M
2012 – Texas A&M
2022 – Oklahoma State

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

(2):
2002 – Texas
2005 – Texas

Men's Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

(3):
2008 – Kansas
2021 – Baylor
2022 – Kansas

Women's Basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

(4):
2005 – Baylor
2011 – Texas A&M
2012 – Baylor
2019 – Baylor Women's Bowling (5):
1999 – Nebraska
2001 – Nebraska
2004 – Nebraska
2005 – Nebraska
2009 – Nebraska Men's Cross Country (8):
2001 – Colorado
2004 – Colorado
2006 – Colorado
2009 – Oklahoma State
2010 – Oklahoma State
2012 – Oklahoma State
2023 – Oklahoma State
2024 – BYU Women's Cross Country (3):
2000 – Colorado
2004 – Colorado
2024 – BYU Men's Golf (7):
2000 – Oklahoma State
2006 – Oklahoma State
2009 – Texas A&M
2012 – Texas
2017 – Oklahoma
2018 – Oklahoma State
2022 – Texas
2025 – Oklahoma State

Rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

(7):
2013 – West Virginia
2014 – West Virginia
2015 – West Virginia
2016 – West Virginia
2017 – West Virginia
2019 – TCU
2024 – TCU
2025 – West Virginia Women's Gymnastics (6):
2014 – Oklahoma
2016 – Oklahoma
2017 – Oklahoma
2019 – Oklahoma
2022 – Oklahoma
2023 – Oklahoma Men's Gymnastics (9):
2002 – Oklahoma
2003 – Oklahoma
2005 – Oklahoma
2006 – Oklahoma
2008 – Oklahoma
2015 – Oklahoma
2016 – Oklahoma
2017 – Oklahoma
2018 – Oklahoma Men's Indoor Track (1):
2024 – Texas Tech Women's Indoor Track (3):
1998 – Texas
1999 – Texas
2006 – Texas Men's Outdoor Track (4):
2009 – Texas A&M
2010 – Texas A&M
2011 – Texas A&M
2019 – Texas Tech Women's Outdoor Track (8):
1998 – Texas
1999 – Texas
2005 – Texas
2009 – Texas A&M
2010 – Texas A&M
2011 – Texas A&M
2013 – Kansas
2023 – Texas Women's Rowing (3):
2021 – Texas
2022 – Texas
2024 – Texas Men's/Women's Skiing (4):
1998 – Colorado
1999 – Colorado
2006 – Colorado
2011 – Colorado
2024 – Colorado
2025 – Utah

Softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

(8):
2000 – Oklahoma
2013 – Oklahoma
2016 – Oklahoma
2017 – Oklahoma
2021 – Oklahoma
2022 – Oklahoma
2023 – Oklahoma
2024 – Oklahoma Men's Swimming (10):
1996 – Texas
2000 – Texas
2001 – Texas
2002 – Texas
2010 – Texas
2015 – Texas
2016 – Texas
2017 – Texas
2018 – Texas
2021 – Texas Men's Tennis (3):
2004 – Baylor
2019 – Texas
2024 – TCU

Women's Tennis Women's tennis is one of the most popular female sports. It is one of the few in which women command success and popularity that equal those of their male counterparts. Women's Tennis Association is the main organization which runs female tennis ...

(2):
2021 – Texas
2022 – Texas Women's Volleyball (5):
2000 – Nebraska
2006 – Nebraska
2012 – Texas
2022 – Texas
2023 – Texas

Beach Volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

(1):
2025 – TCU

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

(4):
2003 – Oklahoma State
2004 – Oklahoma State
2005 – Oklahoma State
2006 – Oklahoma State

Conference champions

The Conference sponsors 23 sports, 10 men's and 13 women's. In football, divisional titles were awarded based on regular-season conference results, with the teams with the best conference records from the North and South playing in the

Big 12 Championship Game The Big 12 Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big 12 Conference between the best and the second-best Big 12 team. The game was played each year since the conference's formation in 1996 until 2010 and returned during the 201 ...

from 1996 to 2010. Baseball, basketball, softball, tennis and women's soccer 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.

Football

The first football game in conference play was Texas Tech vs. Kansas State in 1996, won by Kansas State, 21–14. From 1996 to 2010, Big 12 Conference teams played eight conference games a season. Each team faced all five opponents within its own division and three teams from the opposite division. Inter-divisional play was a "three-on, three-off" system, where teams would 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 came under considerable criticism, especially from Nebraska and Oklahoma, who were denied a yearly match between two of college football's most storied programs. The Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry was one of the most intense in college football history. (Until 2006, the teams had never met in the Big 12 Championship.) Due to the departure of Nebraska and Colorado in 2011, the Big 12 eliminated the divisions (and championship game) and instituted a nine-game round-robin format. With the advent of the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...

committee looking at teams' strength of schedule for picking the four playoff teams, on December 8, 2015, the Big 12 announced an annual requirement for all Big 12 teams to schedule a non-conference game against a team from the four other Power Five conferences (plus Notre Dame). Per Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby: "Schedule strength is a key component in CFP Selection Committee deliberations. This move will strengthen the resumes for all Big 12 teams. Coupled with the nine-game full round robin Conference schedule our teams play, it will not only benefit the teams at the top of our standings each season, but will impact the overall strength of the Conference." The Big 12 has made it to the Playoffs 6 times from 2014 to 2023. Four Big 12 participants have made it to the playoff:

in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019;

in 2023;

in 2022; and

in 2024.

Championship game

The Big 12 Championship Game game was approved by all members except Nebraska. It was held each year, commencing with the first match in the 1996 season at the

Trans World Dome The Dome at America's Center is a multi-purpose stadium used for concerts, major conventions, and sporting events in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Previously known as the Trans World Dome from 1995 to 2001 and the Edward Jones Dom ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. It pitted the division champions against each other after the regular season was completed. Following the 2008 game, the event was moved to the new

Cowboys Stadium AT&T Stadium is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the home of the Cotton Bowl Classic ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

, being played there in 2009 and 2010. In 2010, the Sooners defeated the Cornhuskers 23–20. After 2010, the game was moved to Arlington for 2011, 2012, and 2013. However, the decision became moot following the 2010 season because the league lacked sufficient members. In April 2015, the ACC and the Big 12 developed new rules for the NCAA to deregulate conference championship games. The measure passed on January 14, 2016, allowing a conference with fewer than 12 teams to stage a championship game that does not count against the FBS limit of 12 regular-season games under either of the following circumstances: * The game involves the top two teams following a full round-robin conference schedule. * The game involves two divisional winners, each having played a full round-robin schedule in its division. Under the first criterion, the Big 12 championship game resumed at the conclusion of the 2017 regular season, and is played during the first weekend of December, the time all other FBS conference championship games are played.

Bowl affiliations

The following were bowl games for the Big 12 for the 2022 season.

Rivalries

The Big 12 is known for rivalries (primarily in

) that mostly predate the conference. The Kansas-Missouri rivalry was the longest running, the longest west of the Mississippi, and the second longest in college football, dating back to the

Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) was a college athletic conference and the second college conference formed upon its foundation on January 12, 1907.David A. Campaigne and John R. Thelin, "Big Twelve Conference", ...

before evolving into the Big Eight. It was played 119 times before Missouri left the Big 12. As of October 2012, the University of Kansas' athletic department had not accepted Missouri's invitations to play inter-conference rivalry games, putting the rivalry on hold. Sports clubs sponsored by the two universities continued to play each other. Kansas and Missouri renewed the rivalry in men's basketball starting in December 2021, and have announced that they will meet again in football in 2025. The rivalry between TCU and Baylor, known as the Revivalry is also one of the longest running in college football, with the two universities having played each other — largely as

members — 120 times since 1899. Following the 2024 game, TCU leads the series 59–54–7. Some of the football rivalries between Big 12 universities include:

Men's Basketball

As of the end of the 2023–2024 season, nine current Big 12 members are among the teams with the most wins and/or the highest win percentage in NCAA Division 1 men's basketball:

(#2 in wins, #3 in percentage),

(#12 wins, #19 percentage),

(#15 wins, #22 percentage), BYU (#17 wins, #31 percentage),

(#19 wins, #10 percentage),

(#20 wins, #36 percentage),

(#37 percentage),

(#39 wins), and

(#42 wins). On the list of the most Final Four appearances, Kansas is #5 and Cincinnati, Houston, and Oklahoma State are all tied (with several other schools) at #11. From 1996 to 2011, standings in conference play were not split among divisions, although the schedule was structured as if they were. Teams played a home-and-home against teams within their divisions and a single game against teams from the opposite division for a total of 16 conference games. After Nebraska and Colorado left, Big 12 play transitioned to an 18-game, double round robin schedule. When the conference temporarily expanded to 14 members for the 2023–24 season, the 18-game schedule remained, but the double round-robin was discontinued in favor of a new scheduling formula. In 2024–25, the Big 12 played a 20-game schedule, but due to input from coaches the league will play an 18-game schedule in 2025-26.

Conference champions

Kansas has the most Big 12 titles, winning or sharing the regular-season title 20 times in the league's 25 seasons, including 13 straight from 2004–05 to 2016–17. The 2002 Jayhawks became the first, and so far only, team to complete an undefeated Big 12 regular season, going 16–0. Though rematches between Big 12 regular season co-champions have happened in that year's Big 12 tournament, none have met in the ensuing NCAA Tournament.
In 2021–22, Kansas won the seeding tiebreaker over Baylor for the Big 12 Tournament, as Kansas had gone 1–1 against third place team Texas Tech, while Baylor had been swept by Texas Tech.

NCAA tournament performance

Totals through the end of the 2024–25 season.

All-time wins

''Source:'' Totals though the end of the 2024−25 regular season.

All-time series record

Totals from though the end of the 2023–24 season.
Includes any regular season match up regardless of conference affiliation or postseason meetings. ''Source:''

Big 12 series record

1997 - 2024 as Big 12 Members ''Source:''
Some of the values from the bottom of page 32 don't match with the detailed numbers given on pages 33–41 so that latter values were used: *

Baseball

All current Big 12 members sponsor baseball except Colorado, which never sponsored baseball during its first conference tenure and still does not sponsor the sport, and Iowa State, which dropped the sport after the 2001 season. All other former Big 12 members sponsored the sport throughout their tenures in the conference.

NCAA tournament performance

Totals through the end of the 2025 season.

Broadcasting and media rights

The Big 12's media rights are controlled primarily by

(

, ESPN,

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remain ...

, and

) and

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

(

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

and FS1). Since 2012, ESPN has sublicensed college basketball games to

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

. Beginning in 2025, ESPN will sublicense college football and basketball games to

TNT Sports TNT Sports is the brand name for sports television channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world that are owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The name originates from the American cable television ...

2012 media deal

On September 7, 2012, the Big 12 announced a 13-year agreement with ESPN and Fox valued at $2.6 billion in total.

and

split college football rights, while the basketball inventory was held by

with sublicensing options for

and

. The agreement also included a grant of rights for all current Big 12 teams over the period of the contract. In addition to the national agreement, each Big 12 university maintained the right to sell its "third-tier" covering selected events per-season (including one football game, basketball games, and other events outside of those sports). The third-tier rights to the Texas Longhorns are held through a channel dedicated to the team —

— which is operated by ESPN. In 2019, ESPN announced that it would acquire the third-tier rights to all Big 12 teams through 2024–25 (excluding Oklahoma and Texas, which are still under long-term contracts with

and Longhorn Network respectively), and place their content on its subscription streaming service

. ESPN also acquired exclusive rights to all future Big 12 football championship games, replacing the previous alternation between ESPN and Fox.

2025 extension deal

On October 30, 2022, the Big 12 announced that it had reached early broadcast deal to renew rights with ESPN network (includes ABC rights) and Fox. It is a six-year media rights agreement worth a total of $2.3 billion, but also reportedly includes an "escalator clause" that will raise the value of the contracts if only

Power Five The power conferences are the most prominent athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I, the highest level o ...

schools are added. By striking a deal prior to the exclusive negotiating window with ESPN and Fox, the Big 12 managed to achieve several of its primary objectives of stability and security, including the ability to consult its member schools to seek an extended grant of rights and potential future conference expansion. Fox's deal also places a slate of Big 12 college basketball games on

for the first time. *ESPN: **Football games will primarily air in a primetime window on ESPN **Rights to the football

**Rights to the Big 12 basketball championship **Rights to a slate of college basketball games **Primary streaming partner under the branding Big 12 Now on ESPN+ *Fox Sports: **26 football games per season: **Rights to a slate of college basketball games *TNT Sports **College football, men's basketball, and women's basketball games that would normally be broadcast on ESPN's streaming service

will be licensed to

to be broadcast on

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

and/or TBS, as well as the

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

streaming service. *CBS **Sublicense rights to select college basketball games *NFL Network: **Will air conference wide

Big 12 Studios

In 2024, the Big 12 announced the creation of a

Free ad-supported streaming television Free advertising-supported streaming television (FAST) is a category of streaming television services which offer traditional linear television programming ("live TV") and studio-produced movies without a paid subscription, funded exclusively by a ...

channel, Big 12 Studios, which will show content related to the games. The channel is operated in partnership with

Raycom Sports Raycom Sports is a Charlotte, North Carolina–based producer of sports television programs owned by Gray Media. It was founded in 1979 by husband and wife, Rick and Dee Ray. In the 1980s, Raycom Sports established a prominent joint venture wi ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Sports organizations established in 1996 Sports in Irving, Texas Articles which contain graphical timelines