Big 12 Conference Wiki (2025)

FAQs

How many schools are in the Big 12? ›

There are currently 16 members of the Big 12 Conference. The conference had 14 member institutions a year ago. That included Texas and Oklahoma, but those two departed for the SEC. The addition of the four former Pac-12 programs brings it to 16.

Who joined the Big 12 conference in 2024? On Aug. 2, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah officially joined the Big 12 Conference. The four programs had previously been part of the Pac-12 Conference, which began to dismantle when USC UCLA (and then Washington and Oregon) decided to leave for the Big Ten.

Will the Big 12 have divisions in 2024? The Big 12 will not have divisions despite the additions of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. Big 12 teams will play nine conference games, and the top two seeds will play in the Big 12 conference championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Dec.

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.

See the Best Colleges Rankings of Big 12 Schools. The University of Texas—Austin is the highest-ranked school in the Big 12 Conference.

UCF has the largest enrollment among the Big 12 schools with 59,996 undergraduate students, according to the most recent figures (fall 2021) available on the data website for the U.S. Education Department.

After this upcoming year, Texas and Oklahoma will leave for the SEC. Here's where things get interesting. Beginning in the 2024-25 year, the Big 12 will welcome Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah to the league. That will bring membership up to 16 teams.

The Big 12 announced in February that Texas and Oklahoma will forgo $100 million from the conference under an agreement that is allowing the schools to leave a year earlier than initially required.

The conference will expand to 16 teams in 2024. of Pac-12 powers Southern California and Oregon to the Big Ten, thrust college sports into a new era of realignment.

For the upcoming season, 2023-24, the conference will consist of 14 schools, with BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston joining and Oklahoma and Texas finishing out their time as Big 12 members. Next season, 2024-25, the Big 12 will have a different look.

Why did Colorado leave the Big 12? ›

Colorado was one of several Big 12 members that left the conference in the early 2010s amid a turbulent period of conference realignment and destabilization. It was heavily rumored at the time that Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M – the center of the conference's power structure – were going to leave the Big 12.

An article from Daily Nebraskan echoed this sentiment: “Simply enough, Nebraska had no assurance the conference would survive even if it stayed, so it had to jump at the opportunity to join a stable, prestigious conference.” [3] In order to ensure stability for its athletics program, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln ...

In the early 2010s, then-A&M president R. Bowen Loftin was, according to Wilson, "uncomfortable with the lack of stability in the Big 12." Loftin recalled in 2021 that he had felt discomfort with the conference since attending his first meeting of the conference board shortly after becoming president in 2009.

The new 'four corner' schools — Utah, Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado — will bring much more excitement in their debut seasons for the Big 12 this year.

In the early 2010s, then-A&M president R. Bowen Loftin was, according to Wilson, "uncomfortable with the lack of stability in the Big 12." Loftin recalled in 2021 that he had felt discomfort with the conference since attending his first meeting of the conference board shortly after becoming president in 2009.

With Oregon and Washington headed to the Big Ten, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah quickly followed Colorado to the Big 12. A month later, California and Stanford completed a move to the ACC, leaving OSU and WSU behind.