The Big 12 Conference Commissioner is Kevin L. Weiberg, who has served in that position since 1998. The conference's offices are located in Dallas, Texas.
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).
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 recognized 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 also participates in women's bowling and the coeducational sport of rifle. *Texas A&M participates in women's archery. *Colorado participates in skiing.
Football
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), or for Nebraska and Oklahoma to play a non-conference game when the two teams are not scheduled to meet in conference play.
Championship games
The ranking of teams in the AP poll at the time of the game are in (parentheses). Winning teams are in bold.
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:
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.
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).
Wrestling (49): 1928 - Oklahoma State 1929 - Oklahoma State 1930 - Oklahoma State 1931 - Oklahoma State 1933 - Iowa State/Oklahoma State 1934 - Oklahoma State 1935 - Oklahoma State 1936 - Oklahoma 1937 - Oklahoma State 1938 - Oklahoma State 1939 - Oklahoma State 1940 - Oklahoma State 1941 - Oklahoma State 1942 - Oklahoma State 1946 - Oklahoma State 1948 - Oklahoma State 1949 - Oklahoma State 1951 - Oklahoma 1952 - Oklahoma 1954 - Oklahoma State 1955 - Oklahoma State 1956 - Oklahoma State 1957 - Oklahoma 1958 - Oklahoma State 1959 - Oklahoma State 1960 - Oklahoma 1961 - Oklahoma State 1962 - Oklahoma State 1963 - Oklahoma 1964 - Oklahoma State 1965 - Iowa State 1966 - Oklahoma State 1968 - Oklahoma State 1969 - Iowa State 1970 - Iowa State 1971 - Oklahoma State 1972 - Iowa State 1973 - Iowa State 1974 - Oklahoma 1977 - Iowa State 1987 - Iowa State 1989 - Oklahoma State 1990 - Oklahoma State 1994 - Oklahoma State 2003 - Oklahoma State 2004 - Oklahoma State 2005 - Oklahoma State 2006 - Oklahoma State
National Team Titles By Institution (187 total) Oklahoma State - 48 Texas - 44 Oklahoma - 25 Nebraska - 21 Colorado - 20 Iowa State - 13 Kansas - 9 Texas A&M - 4 Missouri - 2 Baylor - 2 Texas Tech - 1 Kansas State - 0
National Team Titles Since 1996 (37 total) Texas - 12 Oklahoma - 6 Nebraska - 6 Colorado - 6 Oklahoma State - 5 Baylor - 2 Iowa State - 0 Kansas - 0 Kansas State - 0 Missouri - 0 Texas A&M - 0 Texas Tech - 0
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
