Big 12 Conference
The conference was officially formed on February 25, 1994, when the former Big Eight Conference merged with four Texas schools that had been members of the Southwest Conference, which had just disbanded. Athletic competition in the conference commenced on August 31, 1996. While the Big 12 regards itself as a new conference, many fans, especially those of the original Big Eight schools, regard it as an enlarged Big Eight.
Phillips 66 sponsors the conference's championship tournament. The tournament has been held in Oklahoma City, OK every year except for two. In 2002 and 2004 it was held at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX. All-Sport Stadium hosted the tournament once, 1997. AT&T Bricktown Ballpark has hosted the tournament every other year and will continue to do so until 2011.
In late July 2021, the Big 12 (and indeed all of college football) was rocked when Oklahoma and Texas announced that were leaving to join the Southeastern Conference no later than July 2025. It left the remaining 8 schools without a marquee brand school in the lineup and putting the conference's future in question. The Big 12 had been one of the "Power 5 Conference"s in college (along with the SEC, Big 10, ACC, and Pac 12), and there was question whether the conference could continue in that role. The conference moved quickly (in a move driven by primarily football and money) to add University of Cincinnati, Brigham Young University, University of Houston, and University of Central Florida.
According to the Big 12 Conference's website, the use of the alternate names "Big Twelve" and "Big XII" are incorrect; the trademarked name of the conference is "Big 12 Conference" (notwithstanding that the conference logo features the Roman numeral XII).
2024 Members[edit]
- Baylor Bears
- BYU Cougars
- Central Florida Knights
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Houston Cougars
- Kansas St. Wildcats
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Oklahoma St. Cowboys
- Texas Longhorns
- TCU Horned Frogs
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- West Virginia Mountaineers
- Iowa St. Cyclones (Dropped Baseball 2001)
Former Members[edit]
- Colorado Buffaloes (dropped baseball before conference formation)
- Missouri Tigers
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Texas A&M Aggies
Champions[edit]
Source:Wikipedia
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