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Big 12 Conference facts for kids

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Texas vs Iowa State 2007
University of Texas at Austin playing football against Iowa State University

The Big 12 Conference is a group of colleges and universities in the United States. These schools play sports against each other as part of the NCAA's top level, called Division I. The Big 12 Conference began in 1996. It was formed when the Big 8 Conference joined with four schools from Texas. These Texas schools used to be part of the Southwest Conference.

Main Members

The Big 12 Conference has ten main member schools. These schools compete in many different sports within the conference. They are located in several states, including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, and West Virginia.

School Location Founded Type Nickname Joined
Big 12
Baylor University Waco, Texas 1845 Private Bears 1996
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
University of Oklahoma Norman, Oklahoma 1890 Public Sooners 1996
Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Stillwater, Oklahoma 1890 Public Cowboys &
Cowgirls		 1996
Texas Christian University (TCU) Fort Worth, Texas 1873 Private Horned Frogs 2012
University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas 1883 Public Longhorns 1996
Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas 1923 Public Red Raiders 1996
West Virginia University Morgantown, West Virginia 1867 Public Mountaineers 2012

Associate Members

The Big 12 Conference also has schools called "associate members." These schools are not full members. They only play one or two specific sports within the Big 12. For all their other sports, they belong to a different main conference. There are currently 10 associate members.

School Location Founded Type Nickname Joined
Big 12		 Big 12 Sport Main Conference
United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, Colorado 1954 Federal Falcons 2015 Wrestling Mountain West
University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama 1831 Public Crimson Tide 2014 Women's rowing SEC
University of Denver Denver, Colorado 1864 Private Pioneers 2015 Women's gymnastics Summit League
California State University, Fresno Fresno, California 1911 Public Bulldogs 2017
2019		 Wrestling
Equestrian		 Mountain West
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
Old Dominion University Norfolk, Virginia 1930 Public Lady Monarchs 2014 Women's rowing C-USA
South Dakota State University Brookings, South Dakota 1881 Public Jackrabbits 2015 Wrestling Summit League
University of Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee 1794 Public Volunteers 2014 Women's rowing SEC
Utah Valley University Orem, Utah 1941 Public Wolverines 2015 Wrestling WAC
University of Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming 1886 Public Cowboys 2015 Wrestling Mountain West

Former Members

Since the Big 12 Conference started, four schools have left to join other conferences. These schools were original members when the Big 12 was formed in 1996.

School Location Founded Type Nickname Joined
Big 12		 Left
Big 12		 Current Conference
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, Colorado 1876 Public Buffaloes 1996 2011 Pac-12
University of Missouri Columbia, Missouri 1839 Public Tigers 1996 2012 SEC
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lincoln, Nebraska 1869 Public Cornhuskers 1996 2011 Big Ten
Texas A&M University College Station, Texas 1876 Public Aggies 1996 2012 SEC

See also

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