The Big 12 Conference

The Big 12 Conference has been in the news much of late regarding conference membership and its future. Officials from Kansas have stepped forward with statements and comments encouraging member schools to stay within the Big 12 Conference. The Kansas Board of Regents has also issued a statement supporting the current alignment of the Conference. The collegiate athletic conference, which includes both the University of Kansas and Kansas State University, was founded in 1994 and has member schools in seven states.

Below are links to information on the Conference, its current status, its history, predecessors, statements of officials from Kansas in relation to its future and some media links.

BIG 12 CONFERENCE WEBSITE
http://www.big12sports.com/
--History
--Conference Handbook
--News releases
--Insider Blog

Big 12 Member Schools Athletic pages
• Baylor
• Colorado
• Iowa State
• Kansas
• Kansas State
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Oklahoma
• Oklahoma State
• Texas
• Texas A&M
• Texas Tech

GENERAL INFORMATION

Big 12 Conference (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_12_Conference
(A well structured overview of the athletic conference)

How the Big 12 teams rank in revenue-sharing funds
http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/2094/how-the-big-12-teams-rank-in-revenue-sharing-funds
(From the ESPN website)

Former Big 8 Conference (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Eight_Conference
(Its eight members joined with four other schools to form the Big 12 Conference)

Former Southwest Conference
http://www.texasalmanac.com/history/highlights/swc/
(History from the Texas Almanac. Four of its member schools left to join the Big 12 Conference)

STATEMENTS BY OFFICIALS

Governor Mark Parkinson
http://governor.ks.gov/media-room/45-press-releases/703-060810--governor-parkinson-lobbies-fellow-governors-to-preserve-big-xii

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback
http://senatorsambrownback.blogspot.com/2010/06/brownback-roberts-call-on-big-xii-to.html

U.S. Senator Pat Roberts
http://roberts.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=22d91289-633c-4897-89f6-2682ae4c09c1

Kansas Board of Regents
http://www.kansasregents.org/statement_regarding_the_big_12_conference

RECENT MEDIA LINKS

Lawmakers Lobby for Big 12
(Topeka Capital-Journal)
http://cjonline.com/sports/football/2010-06-08/lawmakers_lobby_for_big_12

Kansas Politicians up pressure on neighbors, trying to keep Big 12 Conference together
(Lawrence Journal World)
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/jun/08/statehouse-live-regents-commit-big-12/?sports

Board Of Regents Affirms Commitment To Big 12
(KAKE TV News, Wichita)
http://www.kake.com/sports/headlines/95861029.html

KU Chancellor Urges NU to Stay in Big 12
(Manhattan Mercury)
http://www.themercury.com/k-statesports/article.aspx?articleId=397fdc521b3a40129bc762bc364c7bf0

Articles about the Big 12 Conference (Kansas City)
(Kansas City Star website)
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/big12/

Articles about the Big 12 Conference (Omaha)
(Omaha World-Herald)
http://www.omaha.com/section/bigred
("Big Red Today" section of the newspaper's website)

Article contact: Bill Sowers
(Check out recent additions to our collection)