Big 12 Conference

The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference that is part of the NCAA's Division I. It started when the Big 8 Conference joined together with four colleges from Texas that had been part of the Southwest Conference, and the first games in the Big 12 Conference were played in 1996.

Members

School	Location	Founded	Type	Nickname	Joined Big 12
University of Arizona	Tucson, Arizona	1885	Public	Wildcats	2024
Arizona State University	Tempe, Arizona^[a]	1885	Public	Sun Devils	2024
Baylor University	Waco, Texas	1845	Private	Bears	1996
Brigham Young University (BYU)	Provo, Utah	1875	Private	Cougars	2023
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	1819	Public	Bearcats	2023
University of Colorado Boulder	Boulder, Colorado	1876	Public	Buffaloes	1996; 2024^[b]
University of Houston	Houston, Texas	1927	Public	Cougars	2023
Iowa State University	Ames, Iowa	1858	Public	Cyclones	1996
University of Kansas	Lawrence, Kansas	1865	Public	Jayhawks	1996
Kansas State University	Manhattan, Kansas	1863	Public	Wildcats	1996
Oklahoma State University–Stillwater	Stillwater, Oklahoma	1890	Public	Cowboys & Cowgirls	1996
Texas Christian University (TCU)	Fort Worth, Texas	1873	Private	Horned Frogs	2012
Texas Tech University	Lubbock, Texas	1923	Public	Red Raiders & Lady Raiders^[c]	1996
University of Central Florida (UCF)	Orlando, Florida^[d]	1963	Public	Knights	2023
University of Utah	Salt Lake City, Utah	1850	Public	Utes	2024
West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	1867	Public	Mountaineers	2012

↑ Tempe is home to the main campus. Arizona State has three other physical campuses in the Phoenix area.
↑ Colorado left the Big 12 for the Pac-12 Conference in 2011 and returned in 2024.
↑ Texas Tech uses the "Lady Raiders" nickname for women's basketball. All other sports, whether men's or women's, use "Red Raiders".
↑ The UCF campus has an Orlando mailing address but actually lies in unincorporated Orange County.

Associate members

The Big 12 also has 17 "associate members", all of which play one sport in the conference.

School	Location	Founded	Type	Nickname	Joined Big 12	Big 12 Sport	Main Conference
United States Air Force Academy	USAF Academy, Colorado^[a]	1954	Federal	Falcons	2015	Wrestling	Mountain West
California Baptist University	Riverside, California	1950	Private	Lancers	2022	Wrestling	WAC
University of Denver	Denver, Colorado	1864	Private	Pioneers	2015	Women's gymnastics	Summit League
University of Florida	Gainesville, Florida	1853	Public	Gators	2024	Women's lacrosse	SEC
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State)	Fresno, California	1911	Public	Bulldogs	2019	Equestrian	Mountain West
University of Missouri	Columbia, Missouri	1839	Public	Tigers	2021	Wrestling	SEC
North Dakota State University	Fargo, North Dakota	1890	Public	Bison	2015	Wrestling	Summit League
University of Northern Colorado	Greeley, Colorado	1889	Public	Bears	2015	Wrestling	Big Sky
University of Northern Iowa	Cedar Falls, Iowa	1876	Public	Panthers	2017	Wrestling	Missouri Valley
University of Oklahoma	Norman, Oklahoma	1890	Public	Sooners	2024^[b]	Wrestling	SEC
Old Dominion University	Norfolk, Virginia	1930	Public	Monarchs	2024^[c]	Women's rowing	Sun Belt
San Diego State University	San Diego, California	1897	Public	Aztecs	2024	Women's lacrosse	Mountain West
South Dakota State University	Brookings, South Dakota	1881	Public	Jackrabbits	2015	Wrestling	Summit League
University of Tulsa	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1894	Private	Golden Hurricane	2024	Women's rowing	American
University of California, Davis (UC Davis)	Davis, California	1908	Public	Aggies	2024	Women's lacrosse	Big West
Utah Valley University	Orem, Utah	1941	Public	Wolverines	2015	Wrestling	WAC
University of Wyoming	Laramie, Wyoming	1886	Public	Cowboys	2015	Wrestling	Mountain West

↑ Basically all of the Academy grounds lie outside the city limits of Colorado Springs. The U.S. Census Bureau considers the Academy to be the census-designated place of "Air Force Academy", and the U.S. Postal Service calls it "USAF Academy".
↑ Oklahoma had been a full member of the Big 12 from the conference's start of play in 1996 until leaving for the SEC in 2024.
↑ Old Dominion had been a women's rowing associate from 2014 to 2018.

Former members

Six schools have left the Big 12 since it was formed, but one has since returned to the conference. Missouri would return to the Big 12 in 2021 as a wrestling-only member, and Oklahoma remained a wrestling-only member after otherwise leaving for the Southeastern Conference. Colorado left in 2011 but returned in 2024.

School	Location	Founded	Type	Nickname	Joined Big 12	Left Big 12	Current Conference
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

References

"Big 12 Conference". big12sports.com. Retrieved 2023-07-25.

[1] Tempe is home to the main campus. Arizona State has three other physical campuses in the Phoenix area.

[2] Colorado left the Big 12 for the Pac-12 Conference in 2011 and returned in 2024.

[3] Texas Tech uses the "Lady Raiders" nickname for women's basketball. All other sports, whether men's or women's, use "Red Raiders".

[4] The UCF campus has an Orlando mailing address but actually lies in unincorporated Orange County.

[5] Basically all of the Academy grounds lie outside the city limits of Colorado Springs. The U.S. Census Bureau considers the Academy to be the census-designated place of "Air Force Academy", and the U.S. Postal Service calls it "USAF Academy".

[6] Oklahoma had been a full member of the Big 12 from the conference's start of play in 1996 until leaving for the SEC in 2024.

[7] Old Dominion had been a women's rowing associate from 2014 to 2018.

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