It was formed in 1994 by combining the 8 schools of the Big 8 with 4 schools from the Southwest Conference.  They began competing as the Big 12 Conference in 1996.  The 12 teams are divided into North and South divisions.  For football, the champions of the two divisions play each other in the Big 12 Championship game, and earns a berth into the Bowl Championship Series. ... http://www.squidoo.com/big12 Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:46:44 -0600 FeedCreator 1.7.2 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:35:45 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/big12 It was formed in 1994 by combining the 8 schools of the Big 8 with 4 schools from the Southwest Conference.  They began competing as the Big 12 Conference in 1996.  The 12 teams are divided into North and South divisions.  For football, the champions of the two divisions play each other in the Big 12 Championship game, and earns a berth into the Bowl Championship Series.  The Big 12 Conference is considered to be one of the "Power Conferences" in college athletics. When my school (University of Nebraska) isn't doing well, I will always cheer on the other Big 12 Conference schools.  It's quite amazing to have 3 out of the Top 5 BCS teams right now (Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma). Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:35:45 -0600