Big 12 Conference is currently a conference of 10 (originally 12) universities which participate in the NCAA's Division IFBSfootball. The conference was officially formed in 1994 but did not begin conference play until the fall of 1996. There is a rich football tradition throughout the conference. The schools that comprise the Big 12 Conference, all former members of either the Big Eight Conference or the Southwest Conference, have won 18 national titles including three since the inception of the Big 12 Conference.
* 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 Kansas Memorial Stadium is 52,530, Faurot Field is 75,298, 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 attendance at Kyle Field is 90,079, the record for Jones AT&T Stadium is 56,333, and the record attendance at Bill Snyder Family Stadium is 53,811.
Divisions
Locations of Big 12 conference member institutions.
There are many national football powerhouses in the Big 12 Conference, and 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.
Till the 2010 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 the 2011 season, after the departure of Nebraska and Colorado to the Big 10 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.
On June 10, 2010, the University of Colorado announced that they would leave the Big-12 Conference and join the Pacific-10 Conference, starting in 2012.[2] On June 11, 2010, the University of Nebraska announced that it would leave the Big-12 and join the Big Ten Conference, starting in 2011.[3] Texas A&M had been considering moving to the Southeastern Conference,[4] and other Big 12 member schools had been considering moving to the Pacific-10 Conference.[5] It has been proclaimed that Texas A&M is such a elite college football program and institution that the departure from the Big 12 would result in a loss of 3,050 jobs and $217.2 million in output each year, even if the rest of the conference remains intact. However, all the Big 12 teams (save for Colorado and Nebraska) that had been considering moving to other conferences ultimately decided to stay with the Big 12.[6]
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.
This article is missing information about how conference "rank" is determined. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.(March 2011)
