Big 12 Conference

BIG 12 CONFERENCE U

nder the leadership of new commissioner Brett Yormark, the Big 12 enters its 27th year as one of the nation’s premier athletic conferences in 2022-23.

TCU and West Virginia joined the league on July 1, 2012, and became the Big 12's first additions since inception, joining Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech.

The Conference’s hard work ethic and strong values have translated to enormous success in its first 26 years. Since it began competition in 199697, the league can boast of 77 NCAA team titles and over 700 individual national championships

The award-winning Big 12 Champions for Life, an initiative of the Conference, begins its eighth year in 2022-23. It features current and former student-athletes, selected by league institutions, in a series of public service announcements highlighting the positive impact an athletics scholarship has had on their lives leading to stories of personal growth and success.

During the 2021-22 athletics season, the Big 12 captured a record eight team national championships along with 15 individual titles. Kansas won the Conference’s second-consecutive and third overall men’s basketball crown. Baylor was the 2021 champion while Kansas also won in 2008. Oklahoma collected its and the league’s fifth gymnastics national championship. Texas brought home the Big 12’s first NCAA title in men’s indoor track & field while Oklahoma State earned the league’s second trophy in Equestrian. Four titles were added to the ledger in the spring season with Texas capturing its second-consecutive championships in women’s tennis and rowing. The Longhorns also won the Big 12’s seventh men’s golf crown. Oklahoma brought home its second straight and sixth overall softball national title.

The Big 12 has the best bowl win percentage of any conference over the last two seasons (.833). The Conference placed 70 percent of teams in 2021 bowl games for the first time since 2018, and had seven bowl squads for the 18th season out of the last 23. Baylor and Oklahoma State played in and won CFP New Year’s Six Bowls to give the Big 12 two teams in the postseason structure for the sixth time in its eight years. From 2017-19, Oklahoma made three straight CFP semifinal appearances and has made four since 2015. All-America recipients, averaging over 25 each season. Big 12 student-athletes have shown commitment to their studies by earning numerous individual academic recognitions. On 23 occasions a league athlete has garnered the top academic honor for their respective sport, including Bianca St. Georges (West Virginia) for soccer in 2018-19 and Brittany Brewer (Texas Tech) for women’s basketball in 2019-20.

Competitive excellence, scholarship and sportsmanship are all equal components of the Big 12 philosophy. All-Big 12 teams and Academic All-Big 12 squads are recognized for each sport at the end of their respective seasons. At the end of each academic year, the Conference honors its top male and female student-athletes with the Big 12 Athlete of the Year and Big 12 Sportsperson of the Year awards.