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The Big 12 Conference is a conference of 10 (originally 12) universities which participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football. The conference was formed in 1994 but did not begin conference play until the fall of 1996. The schools that compose the Big 12 Conference, except West Virginia, were members of either the Big Eight Conference or the Southwest Conference, and have won 21 national titles including 3 titles since the inception of the Big 12 Conference.
Contents
- Conference facilities
- Divisions
- Championship game
- Championships by school
- Tiebreaker procedures
- Conference
- Team vs Team
- References
The first game in conference play was the 1996 Texas Tech vs. Kansas State football game. No. 21 Kansas State won by a score of 21–14.
Conference facilities
* Note the official capacities are listed on the respective schools' websites. Due to temporary seating, the attendance records are often more than the official capacity. The record attendance for Jack Trice Stadium is 61,500, the record attendance for Kansas Memorial Stadium is 52,530, the record attendance at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is 85,313, the record for Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium is 101,437, the record for Jones AT&T Stadium is 60,997, the record attendance at Bill Snyder Family Stadium is 53,811, the record attendance at Amon G. Carter Stadium is 50,307, and the record attendance at Mountaineer Field is 70,222.
** Prior to the 2014 season, Baylor played at Floyd Casey Stadium, capacity 50,000.
*** The Jack Trice Stadium south end zone expansion project, completed prior to the 2015 season, increased capacity from 55,000 to 61,500.
Divisions
When the league was formed, it was decided that the top team from the South Division would play the top team from the North Division at the end of the season to determine the conference champion.
Until the 2011 season, teams played eight conference games a season, facing all five opponents within its own division and three teams from the opposite division. Inter-divisional play is a "three-on, three-off" system, where teams will play three teams from the other division on a home-and-home basis for two seasons, and then play the other three foes from the opposite side for a two-year home-and-home.
This format came under considerable criticism, especially from fans at Nebraska and Oklahoma, who were denied a yearly matchup between two of college football's most storied programs. The Oklahoma–Nebraska rivalry was one of the most intense rivalries in college football history. (Until 2006, the teams had never met in the Big 12 Championship.)
Starting with the 2011 season, after the departure of Nebraska and Colorado to the Big Ten and Pac-10 respectively, the divisions were merged and each team played all remaining nine teams from the conference. The Championship game was removed from the schedule.
Championship game
The Big 12 Championship Game was held by the Big 12 Conference each year until 2010. The championship game pitted the Big 12 North Division champion against the Big 12 South Division champion in a game held after the regular season has been completed. The first championship game was held during the 1996 season in St. Louis. The 2009 and 2010 games were played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. With the loss of Nebraska to the Big Ten and Colorado to the Pac-12, the Big 12 Championship Game has been discontinued.
Note: † Denotes team received BCS Bowl Berth or CFP playoff berth.
Championships by school
Italicized= Shared title
* = Former members
Tiebreaker procedures
Effective June 2015, the conference introduced tiebreaking procedures in the event of a tie between two or more teams. They are as follows:
A. If two teams are tied, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the champion.
B. If three or more teams are tied, steps 1 through 4 will be followed until a determination is made. Once a team has been eliminated from a multi-team comparison, it is dropped from further comparisons. If only two teams remain tied after any step, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the Champion.
- The records of the three or more teams against each other
- The records of the three or more teams against the next highest placed teams in the conference
- When comparing against the next highest placed teams, a two-way tie among the next highest placed teams will be broken by head-to-head before the comparison begins.
- If more than a two-way tie exists among the next highest placed teams, record against the collective tied teams as a group will be used.
- Scoring differential among the tied teams. The team with the lowest difference between points scored and points allowed in games vs. the tied teams are eliminated from consideration.
- The representative will be chosen by draw.
Conference
†The 2011–2012 football season was played with only 10 teams, following the departure of Colorado and Nebraska.
‡The 2008 season ended in a three-way tie among Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech. Oklahoma won the tie-breaker to play in Big 12 championship game by placing higher than Texas and Texas Tech in the BCS poll.
Divisions
From 1996 to 2010 the twelve teams played in two divisions of six teams each. Following Colorado and Nebraska's departure for the Pac-10 and Big Ten respectively, divisional play was dropped in favor of a nine-game round robin to determine the Big 12 Champion.
Team vs. Team
Composite all-time records
Total though the end of the 2016 season.