The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of twelve schools located mostly in the central United States. It is a member of the NCAA's Division I 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. Member schools are located in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.

The conference was officially formed on February 25, 1994, when the former Big Eight Conference merged with four Texas schools that had been members of the Southwest Conference, which had just disbanded. Athletic competition in the conference commenced on August 31, 1996. Big 12 headquarters is located in Irving, Texas, which is a suburb of Dallas.

According to the Big 12 Conference's website, the use of the alternate names "Big Twelve" and "Big XII" are incorrect; the trademarked name of the conference is "Big 12 Conference" (notwithstanding the Roman numeral XII featured on the conference logo). The conference is split into two divisions for most major sports—a South Division consisting of the Oklahoma and Texas schools, and a North Division consisting of the other six former Big Eight schools. Although the Big 12 is essentially the old Big Eight plus the four Texas schools, the Big 12 considers itself a separate conference and does not claim the Big Eight's history.

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