BIG12

The Big 12 Conference, commonly referred to as the Big 12, is an American collegiate athletic conference that participates in NCAA Division I athletics. It sponsors competition in multiple sports, with football in the Football Bowl Subdivision and a range of men’s and women’s sports. The league is headquartered in Irving, Texas, and its member institutions compete for conference championships across various sports.

The Big 12 was formed in 1996 when eight schools from the former Big Eight Conference merged with four schools from the dissolved Southwest Conference. Over the years, membership has changed through realignment, including the departure of Nebraska to the Big Ten and Colorado to the Pac-12 in 2011, and the departures of Texas A&M and Missouri to the SEC in 2012. The conference expanded significantly in 2023 by adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF, and Colorado returned to the league in 2024. Texas and Oklahoma subsequently left for the SEC in 2024. As a result, the conference’s composition has shifted, and, as of 2024–25, includes Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, West Virginia, TCU, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF, and Colorado.

Governance is conducted by a Board of Directors consisting of the presidents of member universities, with a Commissioner overseeing the league’s day-to-day operations and strategic planning. Since 2022, the Commissioner has been Brett Yormark. The Big 12 negotiates media rights with national broadcasters, coordinates conference-wide schedules, and awards championships in its various sponsored sports, maintaining a prominent position in collegiate athletics.