The Big 12 Conference (stylized XII) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. It is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

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 Four conferences, the four highest-earning and most historically successful FBS football conferences. Power Four conferences are guaranteed at least one bid to a New Year's Six bowl game and have been granted exemptions from certain NCAA rules.

The Big 12 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization."Big Twelve Conference Inc". Exempt Organizations Select Check. Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved June 17, 2016.- Division of Corporations, Delaware Department of State. Retrieved June 17, 2016. Brett Yormark became the 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 (Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech) to form the conference, with play beginning in 1996.-

In 2011, Colorado and Nebraska left the conference to join the Pac-12 and Big Ten, respectively. One year later, Missouri and Texas A&M departed for the Southeastern Conference, and TCU and West Virginia joined. These changes are known as the 2010–2013 Big 12 Conference realignment.

BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF joined the conference for the 2023–2024 season. The next season Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah joined the conference, Colorado rejoined, and Texas and Oklahoma left as part of a more extensive NCAA conference realignment.

Member universities Full members Institution Location Founded Type Enrollment Median earnings Endowment Nickname Joined Colors University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona 1885 Public 54,384 $67,420 $1.501 Wildcats 2024 Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 78,489 $66,968 $1.757 Sun Devils Baylor University Waco, Texas 1845 Private(Baptist) 19,858 $69,608 $2.180 Bears 1996 Brigham Young University Provo, Utah 1875 Private(LDS) 37,205 $77,018 $3.705As of December 31, 2025. Cougars 2023 University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida 1963 Public 70,674 $61,355 $0.266 Knights University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio 1819 53,682 $72,188 $1.770As of June 30, 2024. Bearcats University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, Colorado 1876 38,808 $76,850 $2.471 Buffaloes University of Houston Houston, Texas 1927 48,972 $68,091 $2.687As of August 31, 2024. Cougars 2023 Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1858 31,105 $68,277 $1.914 Cyclones 1996 University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 1865 31,169 $69,680 $2.867 Jayhawks Kansas State University Manhattan, Kansas 1863 21,213 $64,711 $0.902 Wildcats Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma 1890 27,839 $65,492 $1.564 Cowboys &Cowgirls Texas Christian University Fort Worth, Texas 1873 Private(DOC) 12,980 $76,188 $2.854 Horned Frogs 2012 Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas 1923 Public 42,455 $66,144 $3.069 Red Raiders 1996 University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah 1850 38,261 $75,345 $2.071 Utes 2024 West Virginia University Morgantown, West Virginia 1867 26,046 $64,952 $0.889 Mountaineers 2012

Notes

Membership map

Affiliate members Institution City State Founded Type Enrollment Nickname Joined Colors Big 12sport(s) Primaryconference Boise State University Boise Idaho 1932 Public 28,519 Broncos 2025 Pac-12 University of Denver Denver Colorado 1864 Private 11,499 Pioneers 2015 WCC University of Florida Gainesville Florida 1853 Public 57,368 Gators 2024 SEC Florida State University Tallahassee Florida 1851 46,184 Seminoles 2025 ACC California State University, Fresno Fresno California 1911 24,992 Bulldogs 2019 Equestrian Pac-12 University of Missouri Columbia Missouri 1839 31,300 Tigers 2021 SEC University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls Iowa 1876 Public 9,204 Panthers 2017 Missouri Valley University of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma 1890 Public 36,510 Sooners 2024 SEC Old Dominion University Norfolk Virginia 1930 24,934 Monarchs 2024 Sun Belt San Diego State University San Diego California 1897 41,184 Aztecs 2024 Pac-12 University of South Carolina Columbia South Carolina 1801 38,503 Gamecocks 2025 SEC University of Tulsa Tulsa Oklahoma 1894 Private 4,149 GoldenHurricane 2024 American University of California, Davis Davis California 1908 Public 40,617 Aggies 2024 Mountain West Utah Valley University Orem Utah 1941 48,669 Wolverines 2015 Big West University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming 1886 10,819 Cowboys 2015 Mountain West

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 men's 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 men's 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 men's wrestling affiliate. On January 2, 2026, California Baptist announced that it would drop men's wrestling at the end of the 2025–26 season. The Pac-12 Conference, rebuilding after having lost 10 of its previous 12 full members in 2024, announced on April 1, 2026 that four men's wrestling programs that had previously competed as Big 12 affiliates—Air Force, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, and South Dakota State—would become Pac-12 affiliates effective that July 1.

Former full members Institution City State Founded Type Nickname Joined Left Colors Currentconference University of Missouri Columbia Missouri 1839 Public Tigers 1996 2012 SEC University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lincoln Nebraska 1869 Public Cornhuskers 1996 2011 Big Ten University of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma 1890 Public Sooners 1996 2024 SEC University of Texas at Austin Austin Texas 1883 Public Longhorns 1996 2024 SEC Texas A&M University College Station Texas 1876 Public Aggies 1996 2012 SEC

Notes

Former affiliate members Institution City State Founded Type Nickname Joined Left Colors Big 12sport(s) Currentprimaryconference Currentconferencein formerBig 12sport(s) USAF Academy Colorado 1954 Military Falcons 2015 2026 Mountain West Pac-12 Tuscaloosa Alabama 1831 Public Crimson Tide 2014 2024 SEC California Baptist University Riverside California 1950 Private Lancers 2022 2026 Big West Fresno California 1911 Public Bulldogs 2017 2021 Pac-12 North Dakota State University Fargo North Dakota 1890 Bison 2015 2026 Summit Pac-12 Greeley Colorado 1889 Bears Big Sky South Dakota State University Brookings South Dakota 1881 Jackrabbits Summit Knoxville Tennessee 1794 Volunteers 2014 2024 SEC

Notes

Membership timeline

Earlier membership timelines

Founding members of the Big 12 from the Big Eight:

Colorado Iowa State Kansas Kansas State Missouri Nebraska Oklahoma Oklahoma State

Founding members of the Big 12 from the Southwest Conference:

Baylor Texas Texas A&M Texas Tech

Current members with the longest continuous association with the Big Eight Conference / Southwest Conference / Big 12 Conference.

Institution Started CurrentAssociation In ContinuousYears Note Kansas 1907 120 Iowa State 1908 119 Kansas State 1913 114 Baylor 1915 112 Texas Tech 1956 71 Oklahoma State 1958 69 Previously: 10 years in the Southwest Conference (1914–1924);3 years in the MVIAA (1924–1927) TCU 2012 15 Previously: 73 years in the Southwest Conference (1923–1996) West Virginia 2012 15 BYU 2023 4 UCF 2023 4 Cincinnati 2023 4 Houston 2023 4 Previously: 20 years in the Southwest Conference (1976–1996) Arizona 2024 3 Arizona State 2024 3 Utah 2024 3 Colorado 2024 3 Previously: 49 years in the Big Eight Conference (1947–1996)and 15 years in the Big 12 Conference (1996–2011)

Sports The Big 12 Conference sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 15 women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

+ Teams in Big 12 Conference competitionSportMen'sWomen's Baseball 14 – Basketball 16 16 Beach volleyball – 6Cross country 13 16Equestrian – 4Football 16 –Golf 16 14Gymnastics – 7 Lacrosse – 6Rowing – 6Soccer – 16Softball – 11Swimming & Diving 7 10Tennis 9 16Track and Field (Indoor) 13 16Track and Field (Outdoor) 13 16Volleyball – 15Wrestling 14 –

Current champions Source: Season Sport Men'schampion Women'schampion Fall 2026 Cross Country Football – Soccer – Volleyball – Winter 2026–27 Basketball Equestrian – Gymnastics – Indoor Track & Field Swimming & Diving Wrestling –Spring 2027 Baseball – Beach Volleyball – Lacrosse – Golf Outdoor Track & Field Rowing – Softball – Tennis

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 seven universities fielding a team.

Before 2026–27, the Big 12 had 14 men's wrestling members, but five of those teams left in July 2026. Before the conference's 2023 expansion, that sport had the most competing schools of any Big 12 sport, with 13 members at that time. The 2022–23 and 2024–25 wrestling lineups both included only 4 full conference members; all remaining wrestling schools were affiliate members (listed as a footnote at the bottom of the table).

UniversityBaseballBasketballCrossCountryFootballGolfSwimming&DivingTennisTrack&FieldIndoorTrack&FieldOutdoorWrestlingTotalBig 12SportsArizona 9Arizona State 10Baylor 8BYU 9Cincinnati 8Colorado 6Houston 7Iowa State 7Kansas 7Kansas State 7Oklahoma State 9TCU 9Texas Tech 8UCF 5Utah 6West Virginia 6 Currenttotals 14 16 13 16 16 7 9 13 13 4+5

Men's (and Coed – see Rifle) varsity sports not sponsored by the Big 12 Conference which are played by Big 12 universities:

+ Schools Participating in Men's Non-Sponsored SportsUniversity Ice Hockey Lacrosse Rifle Skiing Soccer VolleyballArizona State NCHC BYU MPSFColorado RMISA TCU PRC UCF SBC Utah ASUN RMISA West Virginia GARC SBC

Women's sponsored sports by university Below are the women's sports sponsored by each member institution.

The women's sports with full participation are basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, indoor track and outdoor track. Oklahoma State is the only member of the Big 12, or of any power conference, that does not sponsor volleyball. Only Utah and West Virginia do not sponsor golf.

Equestrian (3 full members, 1 affiliate) has the lowest participation, with 4 total members. Beach volleyball (3 full members, 3 affiliates), lacrosse (3 full members, 3 affiliates) and rowing (4 full members, 2 affiliates) follow with 6 total members. The affiliate members are listed as footnotes at the bottom of the table, beneath their respective sport.

+ Full MembersUniversityBasketballBeachVolleyballCrossCountryEquestrianGolfGymnasticsLacrosseRowingSoccerSoftballSwimming&DivingTennisTrack&FieldIndoorTrack&FieldOutdoorVolleyballTotalBig 12SportsArizona 11Arizona State 13Baylor 10BYU 11Cincinnati 10Colorado 10Houston 10Iowa State 10Kansas 11Kansas State 9Oklahoma State 9TCU 11Texas Tech 9UCF 10Utah 10West Virginia 10 Currenttotals 16 3+3 16 3+1 14 5+1 3+3 4+2 16 11 10 16 16 16 15

Women's (and co-educational – see Rifle) varsity sports not sponsored by the Big 12 Conference which are played by Big 12 universities: