big 12 now

The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas. The conference consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports.

Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division I-A), the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition. Its ten members, in the states of Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia, include eight public and two private, Christian schools. Additionally, the Big 12 has 11 affiliate members—eight for the sport of wrestling, one of which is also a member in women's equestrianism; one for women's gymnastics; and two for women's rowing. The Big 12 Conference is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in Delaware.

The Big 12 Conference was founded on February 25, 1994. The eight members of the former Big Eight Conference joined with Southwest Conference schools Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, and Texas Tech to form the new Big 12 Conference, which commenced competition on August 31, 1996.