The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas. It consists of 14 full-member universities (3 private universities and 11 public universities) in the states of Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
The Big 12 is a member of the Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division I-A), the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition.
The Big 12 is one of the Power Five conferences, the five highest-earning and most historically successful FBS football conferences. Power Five conferences are guaranteed at least one bid to a New Year's Six bowl game and have been granted autonomy from certain NCAA rules.
The Big 12 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Brett Yormark became the new commissioner on August 1, 2022.
The Big 12 was founded in February 1994. All eight members of the former Big Eight Conference joined with half the members of the former Southwest Conference (Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas Tech) to form the conference, with play beginning in 1996.
Major membership changes came during the 2010–2013 Big 12 Conference realignment and still more changes came or will come during the 2021–2024 NCAA conference realignment.
Member universities
Current full members
Member departing in 2024.
Notes
Membership map
Future members
All future members coming from the Pac-12
Affiliate members
Notes
On July 29, 2015, the Big 12 announced it would add the six former members of the Western Wrestling Conference—Air Force, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Utah Valley, and Wyoming—as affiliate members for wrestling, plus Denver as an affiliate member for women's gymnastics, all effective with the 2015–16 academic year. On July 5, 2017, the Big 12 added Fresno State and Northern Iowa as wrestling affiliates. On May 2, 2019, the Big 12 added Fresno State as an equestrian affiliate. Fresno State would drop wrestling in 2021, but remains an equestrian affiliate. In 2021, the Big 12 added former full member Missouri as a wrestling affiliate.
Former full members
Notes
Former affiliate members
Notes
Membership timeline
Earlier Membership timelines
Click here for the Big Eight Conference Timeline which predates the Big 12 timeline for founding members: Colorado Iowa State Kansas Kansas State Missouri Nebraska Oklahoma Oklahoma State
Click here for the Southwest Conference Timeline which predates the Big 12 timeline for founding members: Baylor Texas Texas A&M Texas Tech
Current members with the longest continuous association with the Big Eight Conference / Southwest Conference / Big 12 Conference.
Member departing in 2024. Members joining in 2024.
Sports
The Big 12 Conference sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 13 women's NCAA sanctioned sports.
Men's sponsored sports by university
Below are the men's sports sponsored by each member institution.
The only men's sports with full participation by the entire conference are basketball, football, and golf. Swimming and diving has the lowest participation with only five universities fielding a team; one of these (Texas) has announced its departure, but three of the four schools joining in 2024 sponsor the sport.
The conference fields 13 teams for wrestling, which before the 2023 expansion was the most of any sport, with only 4 teams being full-time members as well as 9 affiliate members (listed in a separate table below).
Member departing in 2024. Members joining in 2024.
Men's (and Coed – see Rifle) varsity sports not sponsored by the Big 12 Conference which are played by Big 12 universities:
Women's sponsored sports by university
Below are the women's sports sponsored by each member institution.
The only women's sports with full participation by the entire conference are basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, indoor track and outdoor track. Oklahoma State is the only current or future member that does not sponsor volleyball, and only West Virginia and future member Utah do not sponsor golf.
Equestrian has the lowest participation with 3 full-time members and 1 affiliate participating, with gymnastics closely following with 4 full members and 1 affiliate. Gymnastics will lose a full-time member once Oklahoma departs, but will gain three new programs in Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah. The affiliate members are listed in a separate table below.