Big 12 Conference, American collegiate athletic organization. The Big 12 Conference has 16 members.
Kansas, the University of Nebraska, Oklahoma, the University of Missouri, Iowa State, and Kansas State had been members of the Missouri Valley Conference (formed in 1907) but split in 1928 to form the Big 6 Conference. It became the Big 7 when the University of Colorado joined the conference in 1948 and the Big 8 when Oklahoma State was added in 1959. The conference expanded in 1996 when four Texas universities (Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M University) left the Southwest Conference and joined the Big 8.
As the Big 12, it was split into two six-team divisions, one of which consisted of the two Oklahoma and four Texas schools. The conference’s structure changed again when it was announced in 2010 that Colorado was departing to join the Pacific-12 Conference and that Nebraska was leaving to join the Big Ten Conference. In 2012 Missouri and Texas A&M left the conference to join the Southeastern Conference and were replaced by West Virginia and Texas Christian. In 2023 Brigham Young University, the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Houston joined the Big 12. In 2024 the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma left the conference to join the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the University of Colorado, and the University of Utah were added to the Big 12. Despite the various changes in conference membership, the Big 12 decided to keep its well-known name.