The Big 12 Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big 12 Conference between the best and the second-best Big 12 team. The game was played each year since the conference's formation in 1996 until 2010 and returned during the 2017 season. From 1996 to 2010, the championship game pitted the Big 12 North Division champion against the South Division champion in a game held after the regular season was completed. From 2017 onward, the game features the two teams with the best conference records.
In the first eight Big 12 championship games, from 1996 to 2003, the divisions split four games each, with the north champion winning in every odd-numbered year and the south champion winning in every even-numbered year. However, the North division champion did not win after No. 13 Kansas State's 35–7 upset victory over No. 1 Oklahoma in 2003.
The Big 12 is under contract to play the game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas until 2030.
History The first championship game was played after the 1996 regular season, the first year of play for the Big 12 (which was created from the merger of the Big Eight Conference and four teams from the Southwest Conference). Like the SEC Championship Game (which has been played since 1992), the game matched the winners of the conference's two six-team divisions. The championship game was held at several sites within the Big 12 states, with Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, hosting more often than any other venue.
The 2008 Big 12 Championship Game was notable for the controversy over choosing the South Division representative. The Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Longhorns, and Texas Tech Red Raiders all finished with identical records and had each recorded a win and loss among one another. The Sooners earned a berth to the title game because they had the highest Bowl Championship Series ranking of the three at the time of selection. Oklahoma defeated the Missouri Tigers and earned a berth in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game.
From 2009 through 2013, the game was scheduled to be played at Cowboys Stadium, now known as AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. During June 2010, however, Nebraska and Colorado announced that they would leave the Big 12 for other conferences (the Big Ten Conference and the Pac-12 Conference, respectively) in 2011. Because NCAA rules at the time required that a conference have 12 members in order to stage a football championship game that was exempt from NCAA limits on regular-season games, the conference dropped the championship game following the 2010 season. During this time, Oklahoma and Texas had expressed that a conference title game hurt the chances of the conference to have a representative in the BCS National Championship Game, and now the College Football Playoff, which started in 2014.
In December 2014 after completing the first season with the College Football Playoff, Baylor and TCU both finished the season with an 8–1 conference record and were declared co-champions by the conference despite Baylor's head-to-head win over TCU. When the selection committee met to set the teams for the first playoff, both Baylor and TCU were overlooked in favor of teams that competed in and won their conference's championship game, leaving the Big 12 out of the playoffs. This led to criticism of how the Big 12 determined its champion.
In April 2015, legislation was developed by the ACC and the Big 12 to deregulate conference championship games. It was announced by NCAA officials as being expected to pass in time for the start of the 2016 season. The legislation passed on January 14, 2016 allowing a conference with fewer than twelve teams to stage a championship game between the top two teams, so long as they play a round-robin schedule. In late 2016, the Big 12 decided to bring back the championship game in 2017 after a seven-year-long gap of having no conference championship game.
Results Below are the results from all Big 12 Championship Games played. The winning team appears in bold font, on a background of their primary team color. Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game. From 1996 to 2010, the Big 12 was divided into two divisions, North and South. Following the departures of two schools in 2010, the conference discontinued the championship game in favor of a round-robin format to determine the champion. When it resumed in 2017, the top two seeds would face off in the championship game.
YearNorth DivisionSouth DivisionSiteAttendanceMVP 1996 Nebraska 27 Texas 37 Trans World Dome • St. Louis, MO 63,109 RB DeAngelo Evans, Nebraska 1997 Nebraska 54 Texas A&M 15 Alamodome • San Antonio, TX 64,824 RB Ahman Green, Nebraska 1998 Kansas State 33 Texas A&M 36 Trans World Dome • St. Louis, MO 60,798 QB Branndon Stewart, Texas A&M 1999 Nebraska 22 Texas 6 Alamodome • San Antonio, TX 65,035 2000 Kansas State 24 Oklahoma 27 Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO 79,655 QB Josh Heupel, Oklahoma 2001 Colorado 39 Texas 37 Texas Stadium • Irving, TX 65,675 2002 Colorado 7 Oklahoma 29 Reliant Stadium • Houston, TX 63,332 RB Quentin Griffin, Oklahoma 2003 Kansas State 35 Oklahoma 7 Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO 75,491 QB Ell Roberson, Kansas State 2004 Colorado 3 Oklahoma 42 62,310 WR Malcolm Kelly, Oklahoma 2005 Colorado 3 Texas 70 Reliant Stadium • Houston, TX 71,107 QB Vince Young, Texas 2006 Nebraska 7 Oklahoma 21 Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO 80,031 WR Malcolm Kelly, Oklahoma 2007 Missouri 17 Oklahoma 38 Alamodome • San Antonio, TX 62,585 QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma 2008 Missouri 21 Oklahoma 62 Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO 71,004 2009 Nebraska 12 Texas 13Cowboys Stadium • Arlington, TX 76,211 DT Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska 2010 Nebraska 20 Oklahoma 23 78,802 QB Landry Jones, Oklahoma2011–2016: No championship game heldYear#1 Seed#2 SeedSiteAttendanceMVP 2017 Oklahoma 41 TCU 17AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX 64,104 QB Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma 2018 Oklahoma 39 Texas 27 83,114QB Kyler Murray, Oklahoma 2019 Oklahoma 30 Baylor 23 65,191QB Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma 2020 Iowa State 21 Oklahoma 27 18,720*QB Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma 2021 Oklahoma State 16 Baylor 21 65,771QB Blake Shapen, Baylor 2022 TCU 28 Kansas State 31 69,335RB Deuce Vaughn, Kansas State 2023 Texas 49 Oklahoma State 21 84,523QB Quinn Ewers, Texas 2024 Arizona State 45 Iowa State 1955,889RB Cam Skattebo, Arizona State 2025 Texas Tech 34 BYU 785,519LB Ben Roberts, Texas Tech 2026
Results by team Eleven different teams have played in the Big 12 Championship Game, including all five former members. 29 conference championship game appearances are represented by the former members and 17 by current members. Of current members that have played at least one conference season:
Current members AppearancesSchoolWinsLossesPCT.Year(s) WonYear(s) Lost4Kansas State22.5002003, 20221998, 20004Colorado13.25020012002, 2004, 20052Baylor11.500202120192TCU02.000 2017, 20222Oklahoma State02.000 2021, 20232Iowa State02.000 2020, 20241Arizona State101.0002024 1Texas Tech101.0002025 1BYU01.000 20250Arizona00 0Cincinnati00 0Houston00 0Kansas00 0UCF00 0Utah00 0West Virginia00
Arizona, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas, UCF, Utah, and West Virginia have not yet appeared in a Big 12 Championship Game. Of these, Kansas joined the Big 12 in 1996, West Virginia in 2012, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF in 2023, and Arizona and Utah in 2024.
Former members AppearancesSchoolWinsLossesPCT.Year(s) WonYear(s) Lost12Oklahoma111.9172000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2019, 202020037Texas43.5711996, 2005, 2009, 20231999, 2001, 20186Nebraska24.3331997, 19991996, 2006, 2009, 20102Texas A&M11.500199819972Missouri02.0002007, 2008
Common matchups Matchups that have occurred more than once:
Division era No. of TimesNorth DivisionSouth DivisionRecordYears Played3NebraskaTexasTexas, 2–11996, 1999, 20092NebraskaOklahomaOklahoma, 2–02006, 20102MissouriOklahomaOklahoma, 2–02007, 20082ColoradoOklahomaOklahoma, 2–02004, 20052Kansas StateOklahomaTied, 1–12003, 20002ColoradoTexasTied, 1–12005, 2001
Rematches The Big 12 Championship game has featured a rematch of a regular-season game a total of thirteen times (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2025). The team which won the regular-season game is 7-6 in the rematches, winning in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2017, 2019, and 2025 but losing in 1999, 2001, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Game records
TeamRecord, Team vs. OpponentYearMost points scored (one team)70, Texas vs. Colorado2005Most points scored (losing team)37, Texas vs. Colorado2001Fewest points scored (winning team)13, Texas vs. Nebraska2009Fewest points scored3, Colorado vs. OklahomaColorado vs. Texas20042005Most points scored (both teams)83, Oklahoma (62) vs. Missouri (21)2008Fewest points scored (both teams)25, Texas (13) vs. Nebraska (12)2009Most points scored in a half42, Texas (1st half) vs. Colorado2005Most points scored in a half (both teams)49, Oklahoma State vs. Texas (1st half)2023Largest margin of victory67, Texas (70) vs. Colorado (3)2005Smallest margin of victory1, Texas (13) vs. Nebraska (12)2009Total yards662, Texas (464 passing, 198 rushing) vs. Oklahoma St2023Rushing yards335, Nebraska vs. Texas A&M1997Passing yards464, Texas vs. Oklahoma State2023First downs 39, Oklahoma vs. Missouri2008Fewest yards allowed46, Oklahoma vs. Colorado (50 passing, -4 rushing)2004Fewest rushing yards allowed −4, Oklahoma vs. Colorado2004Fewest passing yards allowed39, Texas vs. Nebraska2009IndividualRecord, Player, Team vs. OpponentYearTotal offense 458, Quinn Ewers, Texas vs. Oklahoma State 2023Touchdowns responsible for 4, shared by:Ell Roberson, Kansas State vs. OklahomaBaker Mayfield, Oklahoma vs. TCUQuinn Ewers, Oklahoma State vs. TexasSam Leavitt, Arizona State vs. Iowa State 2003201720232024Rushing yards 235, Darren Sproles, Kansas State vs. Oklahoma 2003Rushing touchdowns 3, shared by seven players, most recent:Mossis Madu, Oklahoma vs. Missouri 2008Passing yards 452, Quinn Ewers, Oklahoma State vs. Texas 2023Passing yards in a half 354, Quinn Ewers, Oklahoma State vs. Texas (1st half) 2023Passing touchdowns 4, shared by:Ell Roberson, Kansas State vs. OklahomaBaker Mayfield, Oklahoma vs. TCUQuinn Ewers, Texas vs. Oklahoma State 200320172023Receiving yards 177, Collin Johnson, Texas vs. Oklahoma 2018Receiving touchdowns 2, shared by nine players, most recent: Coy Eakin, Texas Tech vs. BYU 2025Tackles 17, shared by:Dat Nguyen, Texas A&M vs. Kansas StateLavonte David, Nebraska vs. Oklahoma 19982010Sacks 4.5, Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska vs. Texas 2009Interceptions 2, Ben Roberts, Texas Tech vs. BYU 2025Long PlaysRecord, Player, Team vs. OpponentYearTouchdown run 66, Roy Helu, Nebraska vs. Oklahoma 2010Touchdown pass 81, Trestan Ebner from Jacob Zeno, Baylor vs. Oklahoma 2019Kickoff return 69, Roderick Sneed, Colorado vs. Oklahoma 2003Punt return 80, Jeremy Bloom, Colorado vs. Oklahoma 2002Interception return 73, Aaron Killion, Colorado vs. Texas 2001Fumble return 18, Caleb Kelly, Oklahoma vs. TCU 2017Punt 67, Shane Lechler, Texas A&M vs. Nebraska 1997Field goal 51, Kris Brown, Nebraska vs. Texas 1996MiscellaneousRecord, Team vs. TeamYearGame attendance 85,519, Texas Tech vs. BYU 2025
See also List of NCAA Division I FBS conference championship games
References