The Big 12 Conference sponsors championships in 25 sports, 10 men's and 15 women's, with two women's sports to be added in the 2024–25 school year. The first conference championship awarded was the 1996 softball postseason tournament championship, which was won by Oklahoma. From 2011 through 2016, the football champion was decided by regular-season play. Previously 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 ...

for the Big 12 title. Following changes in NCAA rules, the Big 12 will reinstate its football championship game in 2017, with the top two teams in the final conference standings advancing to the title game. Baseball, basketball, soccer, and tennis titles are awarded in both regular-season and tournament play. Cross country, golf, gymnastics, rowing, swimming and diving, track and field, and wrestling titles are awarded during an annual meet of participating teams. The volleyball and softball titles are awarded based on regular-season play. Softball previously held a post season tournament.

Membership

Current membership

Former members

Associate members

Associate members joining in 2024: * Women's lacrosse **

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). The university fields 17 varsity teams (6 men's, 11 women's) in National Collegiate Athle ...

UC Davis Aggies The UC Davis Aggies (also referred to as the Ags, Cal Aggies or Aggies) are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Davis. Eighteen of the school's 25 intercollegiate sports - baseball, men's basketball, men's cross coun ...

* Women's rowing **

Old Dominion Monarchs The Old Dominion Monarchs are composed of 18 college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams representing Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk, Virginia. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf, s ...

Tulsa Golden Hurricane The Tulsa Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the Universit ...

* Wrestling **

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

Baseball

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

Men's basketball

Women's basketball

Beach volleyball

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 ...

, organized by the NCAA only for women, is the first of two women's sports to be added in 2024–25. Established full member TCU was joined by incoming members Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah. The Big 12 plans to add other schools in that sport to meet the sponsorship level required for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, but gave no timetable for any additions.

Men's cross country

All current Big 12 schools sponsor men's cross country except UCF, Utah, and West Virginia.

Women's cross country

All current Big 12 schools sponsor women's cross country.

Equestrian

Four schools participate in equestrian—full members Baylor, Oklahoma State, and TCU, plus associate member Fresno State. Kansas State discontinued its equestrian team after the 2016 season.

Football

Current football members

Previous football members

This list reflects the official Big 12 totals by including division championships (1996–2010), conference championships won through a postseason championship game (1996–2010 and 2017–present), and conference championships won through the regular season (2011–2016).
The Big 12 counts shared division championships as a full championship for each school, regardless of what school went on to play in the Big 12 title game. Note: While the team playing in the championship game from 1996 through 2010 was popularly regarded as the divisional champion, the Big 12 did officially recognize co-champions in football, just like it does in other sports. As a result, the following teams are also recognized as champions by the Big 12:
North Co-Champions: Kansas State (1999), Nebraska (2000, 2001, 2008), Iowa State (2004), Kansas (2007), Missouri (2010)
South Co-Champions: Texas (2002, 2008), Texas Tech (2008), Oklahoma State (2010), Texas A&M (2010) 2011–2016 When Nebraska and Colorado left the conference after the 2010 season, it left the conference with only 10 members. The conference did not replace the two teams and therefore eliminated the Big 12 Championship game. Under the new format, which remained in place through the 2016 season, every team played each other and the team with the best conference record won the Big 12 title. In the event of a tie between two teams or more teams for the best conference record, then they were determined co-champions. Through the 2013 season, the winner of the head-to-head game earned the BCS berth in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area since 1971. From its beginning until 2006, the game was hosted at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has be ...

. This was later changed and the league recognized a tie-breaker starting in 2015. The change was made after the B12 was left out of the inaugural four-team College Football Playoff in 2014. The B12 presented TCU and Baylor as co-champs to the College Football Committee in 2014, despite Baylor having the head-to-head win over TCU. The move was seen as a play by the conference to get two teams invited into the new format, which backfired, leaving both teams out. Following a 2016 change in NCAA rules that allowed FBS conferences to stage championship games regardless of their membership numbers, the Big 12 announced it would reinstate its championship game starting in 2017. The conference continued to play a full round-robin conference schedule until it expanded to 14 members in 2023 (and to 16 in 2024). The top two teams at the end of the conference season (with tiebreakers used as needed) play in the championship game. With the launch 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 ...

(CFP) in 2014, which coincided with a reworking of bowl tie-ins, the Big 12 tie to the Fiesta Bowl ended. * The Big 12's primary bowl partner is now the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

, In years when that game is not a CFP semifinal, the top teams from the Big 12 and SEC, as chosen by the CFP selection committee, will play one another. If either conference provides a team for the CFP semifinals, the top non-playoff team from that conference will go to the Sugar Bowl. * When the Sugar Bowl is hosting a semifinal, the top Big 12 team not involved in the playoff will receive a berth in either the Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, or

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played annually in Atlanta, Georgia, since December 30, 1968. The first three Peach Bowls were played at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Grant Field on the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech c ...

. Note: * Head to head winner

Men's golf

All current Big 12 members sponsor men's golf. The most recent school to add the sport while a Big 12 member is West Virginia, which added that sport starting in the 2015–16 season.

Women's golf

All current Big 12 members sponsor women's golf except Utah and West Virginia.

Women's gymnastics

The Big 12 currently has seven women's gymnastics members—full members Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Iowa State, Utah and West Virginia, plus Denver, an affiliate since the 2015–16 season.

Women's lacrosse

Women's lacrosse Women's lacrosse (or girls' lacrosse), sometimes shortened to lax, is a field sport played at the international level with two opposing teams of ten players each (12 players per team at the U.S. domestic level). Originally played by indigenous ...

is the other women's sport added in 2024–25. At the time of announcement, Cincinnati was the only full member that sponsored the sport, joined by incoming members Arizona State and Colorado. As in the case of beach volleyball, the other new sport for 2024–25, the Big 12 planned to add other schools to meet the sponsorship level required for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, but gave no timetable for any additions. In February 2024, the conference announced the arrival of three associates for its first women's lacrosse season—Florida, San Diego State, and UC Davis.

Rowing

In the 2014–15 school year, rowing was the only Big 12 sport with affiliate members. Before that school year, the Big 12 and

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

(CUSA) had a rowing alliance in which all Big 12 rowing schools would participate in the CUSA championship as well as the Big 12 championship. CUSA dropped rowing after the departure of most of its rowing members for other conferences. The Big 12 then took in the three remaining schools from the CUSA rowing league (Alabama, Old Dominion, and Tennessee) as single-sport affiliates. Old Dominion left Big 12 rowing after the 2017–18 season to join 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 ...

, but returned to Big 12 women's rowing in 2024–25. Full American Conference member Tulsa also joined for women's rowing in 2024–25. Since 2015–16, the Big 12 has also had affiliates in women's gymnastics and wrestling. The departure of Oklahoma and Texas in 2024 for the SEC would allow that conference to begin sponsoring women's rowing. Both schools that were affiliates in the 2023–24 season (Alabama and Tennessee) are charter SEC members, and SEC bylaws allow it to hold a championship in any sport sponsored by at least 25% of the full membership (four schools). The SEC has not yet announced whether it will sponsor the sport, but the Big 12's announcement of the arrival of Old Dominion and Tulsa hinted at the departure of Alabama and Tennessee. Neither SEC member was included in the list of Big 12 rowing members for 2024–25.

Women's soccer

All current Big 12 members sponsor women's soccer. The most recent to add the sport was Kansas State, which announced in 2015 that it was adding the sport. The Wildcats played their first season in 2016 as an independent, and began playing a full Big 12 schedule in 2017.

Softball

Eleven Big 12 schools currently sponsor softball; Cincinnati, Colorado, Kansas State, TCU, and West Virginia do not. Reference:

Men's swimming & diving

Seven Big 12 schools currently sponsor men's swimming & diving: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, TCU, Utah, and West Virginia.

Women's swimming & diving

Ten Big 12 schools currently sponsor women's swimming and diving: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, TCU, Utah, and West Virginia.

Men's tennis

Nine current Big 12 members sponsor men's tennis; Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, the Kansas schools, and West Virginia do not.

Women's tennis

All current Big 12 members sponsor women's tennis. Reference:

Men's track & field

All current Big 12 members sponsor men's track and field except UCF, Utah, and West Virginia.

Women's track & field

All current Big 12 members sponsor women's track and field.

Volleyball

All current Big 12 members sponsor women's volleyball except Oklahoma State, which has never sponsored women's volleyball as a Big 12 member. Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt are the only two schools in 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 ...

that do not sponsor women's volleyball, and Vanderbilt (which dropped women's volleyball after the 1979 season) will reinstate the sport in the 2025 season. The only current or future member with a varsity men's team is BYU.

Wrestling

Wrestling crowned regular-season champions in 2011–12 and 2012–13 only. In 2015, the Big 12 absorbed the

Western Wrestling Conference The Western Wrestling Conference (WWC) was an NCAA Division I wrestling-only conference that competed from 2006 through 2015. All of its past members became associate members of the Big 12 Conference, and all but one continue to compete in Big 12 ...

, with that league's six final members becoming Big 12 affiliates effective with the 2015–16 school year. Fresno State and Northern Iowa became affiliates in 2017–18. Missouri became an affiliate during the 2021-22 season after Fresno State dropped its program, and California Baptist became an affiliate in 2022–23 once it completed its transition from

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

to Division I. Oklahoma remained in Big 12 wrestling after otherwise joining the SEC, keeping that program together with the only other SEC member to sponsor the sport, former Big 12 member Missouri. Of the four schools that joined the Big 12 in 2024, only Arizona State sponsors wrestling.

Notes

^†denotes shared title

References

{{Big 12 Conference navbox Big 12 Conference

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...