Big 12 Conference

Conference	NCAA
Founded	February 25, 1994 (1994-02-25)[1]
Commissioner	Brett Yormark (since 2022)
Sports fielded	23 men's: 10 women's: 13
Division	Division I
Subdivision	FBS
No. of teams	14
Headquarters	Irving, Texas
Region	South Atlantic West North Central West South Central
Official website	www.big12sports.com
Locations

The Big 12 Conference sponsors championships in 23 sports, 10 men's and 13 women's,^[2] with two women's sports to be added in the 2024–25 school year.^[3] 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 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

All-Time Big 12 Championships by university through November 22, 2023. After the 2023–24 school year, Oklahoma and Texas will leave the Big 12 to join the Southeastern Conference (SEC); Colorado will return to the Big 12 after 13 years in the Pac-12 Conference; and Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah will also join from the Pac-12.

Former members

Future members

Joining the Big 12 in 2024:

• Arizona Wildcats
• Arizona State Sun Devils
• Colorado Buffaloes
• Utah Utes

Baseball

All current and future 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.^[5]

Men's basketball

Women's basketball

Beach volleyball

Beach volleyball, organized by the NCAA only for women, is the first of two women's sports to be added in 2024–25. Current full member TCU will be 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.^[3]

Men's Cross Country

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

Women's Cross Country

All current and future 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).^[10]
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) ^[11]

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.^[12] This was later changed and the league recognized a tie-breaker starting in 2015.^[12] 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.^[13]

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 (with a further expansion to 16 coming 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 (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, 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.

Note: * Head to head winner

Men's Golf

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

Women's Gymnastics

The Big 12 currently has five women's gymnastics members—full members BYU, Iowa State, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, plus Denver, an affiliate since the 2015–16 season. After the 2023–24 season, Oklahoma will leave for the SEC, while Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah will join.

Women's lacrosse

Women's lacrosse is the other women's sport to be 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 plans 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.^[3]

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 (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.

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 current affiliates (Alabama and Tennessee) are charter SEC members, and SEC bylaws allow it to hold a championship in any sport sponsored by four schools. The SEC has not yet announced whether it will sponsor the sport.

Women's Soccer

All current and future 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.^[16]

Softball

Ten Big 12 schools currently sponsor softball; Cincinnati, Kansas State, TCU, and West Virginia do not. Of the four schools joining in 2024, the only one that does not sponsor softball is returning member Colorado, which never sponsored softball during its first conference tenure.

Reference:^[18]

Men's Swimming & Diving

Five Big 12 schools currently sponsor men's swimming & diving: BYU, Cincinnati, TCU, Texas, and West Virginia. The Big 12 men's swimming membership will increase to seven in 2024 with the addition of Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah, plus the departure of Texas.

Women's Swimming & Diving

Eight Big 12 schools currently sponsor women's swimming and diving: BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, TCU, Texas, and West Virginia. Texas will leave after the 2023–24 season to join the SEC, but the number of teams will increase to 10 with the arrival of Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah.

Men's Tennis

Eight current Big 12 members sponsor men's tennis; Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, the Kansas schools, and West Virginia do not. The Big 12 men's tennis league will remain at eight members after 2023–24, with Oklahoma and Texas replaced by Arizona and Arizona State.

Women's Tennis

All current and future Big 12 members sponsor women's tennis.

Reference:^[21]

Men's Track & Field

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

Women's Track & Field

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

Volleyball

All current and future Big 12 members sponsor women's volleyball except Oklahoma State, which has never sponsored women's volleyball as a Big 12 member.^[22] Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt are the only two schools in the Power Five conferences 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.

Nebraska left the conference in 2011.

Wrestling

Wrestling crowned regular-season champions in 2011–12 and 2012–13 only.

In 2015, the Big 12 absorbed the Western Wrestling Conference, 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 to Division I.

Big 12 wrestling may lose a member when Oklahoma leaves for the SEC; however, given that current SEC (and former Big 12) member Missouri is a Big 12 wrestling member, Oklahoma may stay in Big 12 wrestling. Of the four incoming members, only Arizona State sponsors wrestling.