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Big 12 Conference

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Big 12 Conference
150px Big 12 Conference
Data
Classification NCAA Division I-A
Established 1994
Members 12
Sports fielded 21 (10 men's, 11 women's)
Region Central United States
States 7 - Colorado, Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma,
Texas
Headquarters Dallas, Texas

The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of twelve schools located in the central United States. It is a member of the NCAA's Division I for all sports, and Division I-A for football.

The Big 12 Conference Commissioner is Kevin L. Weiberg, who has served in that position since 1998. The conference's offices are located in the Dallas suburb Irving, Texas.

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.

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).

Membership

Big 12 North

Big 12 South

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment
Baylor University Waco, Texas 1845 Private/Baptist 14,117
University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado 1876 Public 29,151
Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1858 Public 26,700
University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 1865 Public 26,980
Kansas State University Manhattan, Kansas 1863 Public 23,000
University of Missouri Columbia, Missouri 1839 Public 27,003
University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska 1869 Public 21,792
University of Oklahoma Norman, Oklahoma 1890 Public 27,282
Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma 1890 Public 21,113
University of Texas Austin, Texas 1883 Public 50,337
Texas A&M University College Station, Texas 1876 Public 43,924
Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas 1923 Public 28,325

Sports

File:Big12logo.gif

The conference sponsors championships in the following sports:

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

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

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

  • Kansas State, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M participate in equestrian.
  • Kansas, Kansas State and Texas participate in rowing.
  • Nebraska and Oklahoma participate in men's gymnastics.
  • Nebraska participates in women's bowling and the coeducational sport of rifle.
  • Texas A&M participates in women's archery.
  • Colorado participates in skiing.

Football

Big XII Championship Game
Big XII Championship Game

When the league was formed, it was decided that the top team from the South Division would play the top team from the North Division at the end of the season to determine the conference champion.

Teams play eight conference games a season, facing all five opponents within its own division and three teams from the opposite division. Inter-divisional play is a "three-on, three-off" system, where teams will play three teams from the other division on a home-and-home basis for two seasons, and then play the other three foes from the opposite side for a two-year home-and-home. This format has come under considerable criticism, especially from fans at Nebraska and Oklahoma, who are denied a yearly matchup between two of college football's most storied programs. The Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry is not the only intense rivalry from the former Big 8 that is affected; fierce rivalries such as Oklahoma-Colorado and Oklahoma State-Missouri also must sit dark for two seasons at a time.

There has been talk of modifying the current format to allow each team to have one permanent opponent from the opposite division (as is the case in the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference), or for Nebraska and Oklahoma to play a non-conference game when the two teams are not scheduled to meet in conference play.

Bowl Games

The bowl lineup for the 2006 season, in order of selection:

Championship games

The ranking of teams in the AP Poll at the time of the game are in (parentheses). Winning teams are in bold.

Year North Division team South Division team Location
1996 (3) Nebraska 27 Texas 37 Trans World Dome, St. Louis, Missouri
1997 (2) Nebraska 54 (14) Texas A&M 15 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
1998 (2) Kansas St 33 (10) Texas A&M 36 Trans World Dome, St. Louis, Missouri
1999 (2) Nebraska 22 (12) Texas 6 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
2000 (8) Kansas St 24 (1) Oklahoma 27 Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
2001 (9) Colorado 39 (3) Texas 37 Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
2002 (12) Colorado 7 (8) Oklahoma 29 Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas
2003 (15) Kansas State 35 (1) Oklahoma 7 Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
2004 Colorado 3 (2) Oklahoma 42 Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
2005 Colorado 3 (2) Texas 70 Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas
2006 Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
2007 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

Rivalries

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

Rivalry Name Trophy
Nebraska - Oklahoma
Nebraska - Colorado
Nebraska - Missouri Missouri - Nebraska Bell
Iowa State - Missouri The Telephone Trophy
Kansas - Missouri The Border Showdown1 The Marching Band Drum
Kansas - Kansas State The Sunflower Showdown The Governor's Cup
Kansas State - Nebraska
Oklahoma - Oklahoma State The Bedlam Series Bedlam Bell
Texas - Baylor
Baylor - Texas A&M The Battle on the Brazos
Texas - Oklahoma The Red River Rivalry2 The Golden Hat
Texas - Texas A&M The Lone Star Showdown
Texas Tech - Texas
Texas Tech - Texas A&M
Texas A&M - Oklahoma
  1. Changed from the "Border War" on October 4, 2004 due to the September 11th terrorist attacks. The new name has been criticized for political correctness[1].
  2. Changed names from Red River Shootout in 2005 to deemphasize war and for political correctness. Played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Men's basketball

Although standings in the conference are combined and not split among divisions, the schedule is structured as if the schools were split into two divisions. Teams play a home-and-home against teams within its division and a single game against teams from the opposite division for a total of 16 conference games. This denies former Big 8 schools Oklahoma and Oklahoma State two games a season against long-time basketball power Kansas, but does allow most of the other traditional rivalries to be played home-and-home.

Championship games

Numbers in parentheses refer to each team's finish/seed in the tournament for that year.

Year Champion Runner-up Location
1997 (1) Kansas 87 (10) Missouri 60 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
1998 (1) Kansas 72 (3) Oklahoma 58 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
1999 (3) Kansas 53 (5) Oklahoma State 37 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
2000 (1) Iowa State 70 (3) Oklahoma 58 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
2001 (3) Oklahoma 54 (4) Texas 45 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
2002 (2) Oklahoma 64 (1) Kansas 55 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
2003 (2) Oklahoma 49 (7) Missouri 47 American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
2004 (1) Oklahoma State 65 (2) Texas 49 American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
2005 (3) Oklahoma State 72 (4) Texas Tech 68 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
2006 (2) Kansas 80 (1) Texas 68 American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
2007 Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2008 Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri

Conference facilities

School Football stadium Capacity Basketball arena Capacity
Baylor Floyd Casey Stadium 50,000 Ferrell Center 10,284
Colorado Folsom Field 53,750 Coors Events Center 11,064
Iowa State Jack Trice Stadium 45,814 Hilton Coliseum 14,092
Kansas Memorial Stadium 50,971 Allen Fieldhouse 16,300
Kansas State Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium 52,000 Bramlage Coliseum 13,500
Missouri Faurot Field 68,349 Mizzou Arena 15,061
Nebraska Memorial Stadium 81,067 Bob Devaney Sports Center 13,500
Oklahoma Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium 82,112 Lloyd Noble Center 11,528
Oklahoma State Boone Pickens Stadium 44,700 Gallagher-Iba Arena 13,611
Texas Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium 85,123* Frank Erwin Center 16,755
Texas A&M Kyle Field 82,600* Reed Arena 12,500
Texas Tech Jones AT&T Stadium 53,000 United Spirit Arena 15,020

*Note the official capacities are listed on the respective schools websites. Due to temporary seating the attendance records are often much more than the official capacity. 87,555 is the record attendance at Kyle Field and the record for DKR is 89,422

National championships

The following is a list of all the national championships held by member schools. Only championships 1996 and later should be counted towards the Big 12 total itself (37).

Conference champions

Big 12 Men's Regular Season Champions
Year Baseball Basketball Indoor Track Outdoor Track Cross Country Football¹ Golf Swimming, Diving Tennis Wrestling
1996-1997 Texas Tech Kansas Nebraska Texas Colorado Texas Oklahoma State Texas Texas Oklahoma State
1997-1998 Texas A&M Kansas Nebraska Nebraska Colorado Nebraska Oklahoma State Texas Texas Oklahoma State
1998-1999 Texas A&M Texas Texas Texas Colorado Texas A&M Kansas Texas Texas Oklahoma
1999-2000 Baylor Iowa State Nebraska Nebraska Colorado Nebraska Oklahoma State Texas Baylor Oklahoma State
2000-2001 Nebraska Iowa State Nebraska Texas A&M Colorado Oklahoma Baylor Texas Texas A&M Oklahoma State
2001-2002 Texas Kansas Nebraska Nebraska Colorado Colorado Texas Texas Baylor Oklahoma
2002-2003 Nebraska Kansas Nebraska Texas Colorado Oklahoma Texas Texas Baylor Oklahoma State
2003-2004 Texas Oklahoma State Nebraska Nebraska Colorado Kansas State Texas Texas Baylor Oklahoma State
2004-2005 Nebraska, Baylor Kansas, Oklahoma Nebraska Texas Tech Colorado Oklahoma Oklahoma State Texas Baylor Oklahoma State
2005-2006 Texas Texas, Kansas Texas Texas Colorado Texas Oklahoma Texas Texas Oklahoma State

¹The champion listed for football is the champion of the Big 12 championship game, who may or may not have had the best regular-season record.

Big 12 Women's Regular Season Champions
Year Basketball Cross Country Indoor Track Outdoor Track Golf Gymnastics Soccer Softball² Swimming, Diving Tennis Volleyball
1996-1997 Kansas Colorado Nebraska Texas Texas Nebraska Nebraska Missouri Nebraska Texas Nebraska
1997-1998 Texas Tech Colorado Texas Texas Texas A&M Nebraska Texas A&M Nebraska Nebraska Texas Texas
1998-1999 Texas Tech Kansas State Texas Texas Oklahoma State Nebraska Baylor Oklahoma Texas Texas Nebraska
1999-2000 Iowa State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech Colorado Nebraska Nebraska Oklahoma Iowa State Nebraska Oklahoma Texas Texas Nebraska
2000-2001 Oklahoma Colorado Nebraska Kansas State Oklahoma State Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Texas Oklahoma State, Texas Nebraska
2001-2002 Oklahoma Colorado Texas Kansas State Oklahoma State Nebraska Texas Texas Texas Texas Nebraska
2002-2003 Texas Colorado Texas Texas Oklahoma State Nebraska Texas A&M Texas Texas Baylor, Texas A&M Nebraska
2003-2004 Texas, Kansas State Colorado Nebraska Texas Texas Oklahoma Colorado Nebraska Texas Texas Kansas State
2004-2005 Baylor Colorado Nebraska Nebraska Oklahoma State Nebraska Texas A&M, Kansas Texas A&M Texas Baylor Nebraska
2005-2006 Oklahoma Colorado Texas Texas Texas A&M Iowa State Texas A&M Texas Texas Baylor Nebraska

²The conference awarded Oklahoma a 1996 softball championship before the conference officially commenced operations; this is counted in Oklahoma's total below

Big 12 Conference titles by school

  • Texas - 66
  • Nebraska - 47
  • Colorado - 21
  • Oklahoma State - 19
  • Oklahoma - 16
  • Baylor - 14
  • Texas A&M - 13
  • Kansas - 9
  • Kansas State - 6
  • Iowa State - 5
  • Texas Tech - 5
  • Missouri - 1

References

  1. ^ Messenger, Tony Football boosters light flames of MU-KU Border War once again Columbia Daily Tribune November 10, 2004.
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