Big 12 Championship Game

Last updated
Big 12 Championship Game
Big 12 Championships logo.svg
Sport Football
Conference Big 12 Conference
Current stadium AT&T Stadium
Current location Arlington, Texas
Played1996–2010; 2017–present
Last contest 2023
Current champion Texas Longhorns
Most championships Oklahoma Sooners (11)
TV partner(s) ABC [1]
Official website big12sports.com
Sponsors
Dr Pepper (1996–2010, 2018–present) [2]
AT&T (2017)
WWE (2023)
Host stadiums
Host locations
Big 12 Conference Members
Big 12 Championship Game
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The Big 12 Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big 12 Conference between the best and the second-best Big 12 team. The game was played each year since the conference's formation in 1996 until 2010 and returned during the 2017 season. From 1996 to 2010, the championship game pitted the Big 12 North Division champion against the South Division champion in a game held after the regular season was completed. From 2017 onward, the game features the two teams with the best conference records.

Contents

In the first eight Big 12 championship games, from 1996 to 2003, the divisions split four games each, with the north champion winning in every odd-numbered year and the south champion winning in every even-numbered year. However, the North division champion did not win after No. 13 Kansas State's 35–7 upset victory over No. 1 Oklahoma in 2003.

The Big 12 is under contract to play the game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas until 2030.

History

The first championship game was played after the 1996 regular season, the first year of play for the Big 12 (which was created from the merger of the Big Eight Conference and four teams from the Southwest Conference). Like the SEC Championship Game (which has been played since 1992), the game matched the winners of the conference's two six-team divisions. The championship game was held at several sites within the Big 12 states, with Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, hosting more often than any other venue.

The 2008 Big 12 Championship Game was notable for the controversy over choosing the South Division representative. The Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Longhorns, and Texas Tech Red Raiders all finished with identical records and had each recorded a win and loss among one another. The Sooners earned a berth to the title game because they had the highest Bowl Championship Series ranking of the three at the time of selection. Oklahoma defeated the Missouri Tigers and earned a berth in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game.

From 2009 through 2013, the game was scheduled to be played at Cowboys Stadium, now known as AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. [3] During June 2010, however, Nebraska and Colorado announced that they would leave the Big 12 for other conferences (the Big Ten Conference and the Pac-12 Conference, respectively) in 2011. Because NCAA rules at the time required that a conference have 12 members in order to stage a football championship game that was exempt from NCAA limits on regular-season games, the conference dropped the championship game following the 2010 season. During this time, Oklahoma and Texas had expressed that a conference title game hurt the chances of the conference to have a representative in the BCS National Championship Game, and now the College Football Playoff, which started in 2014. [4]

In December 2014 after completing the first season with the College Football Playoff, Baylor and TCU both finished the season with an 8–1 conference record and were declared co-champions by the conference despite Baylor's head-to-head win over TCU. When the selection committee met to set the teams for the first playoff, both Baylor and TCU were overlooked in favor of teams that competed in and won their conference's championship game, leaving the Big 12 out of the playoffs. [5] This led to criticism of how the Big 12 determined its champion.

In April 2015, legislation was developed by the ACC and the Big 12 to deregulate conference championship games. It was announced by NCAA officials as being expected to pass in time for the start of the 2016 season. [6] The legislation passed on January 14, 2016 allowing a conference with fewer than twelve teams to stage a championship game between the top two teams, so long as they play a round-robin schedule. In late 2016, the Big 12 decided to bring back the championship game in 2017 after a seven-year-long gap of having no conference championship game.

Results

Below are the results from all Big 12 Championship Games played. The winning team appears in bold font, on a background of their primary team color. Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game. From 1996 to 2010, the Big 12 was divided into two divisions, North and South. Following the departures of two schools in 2010, the conference discontinued the championship game in favor of a round-robin format to determine the champion. When it resumed in 2017, the top two seeds would face off in the championship game.

YearNorth DivisionSouth DivisionSiteAttendanceMVP
1996 No. 3 Nebraska 27 Texas 37 Trans World DomeSt. Louis, MO 63,109RB DeAngelo Evans, Nebraska
1997 No. 2 Nebraska 54No. 14 Texas A&M 15 AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX 64,824RB Ahman Green, Nebraska
1998 No. 2 Kansas State 33No. 10 Texas A&M 36Trans World Dome • St. Louis, MO60,798QB Branndon Stewart, Texas A&M
1999 No 3. Nebraska 22No. 12 Texas 6Alamodome • San Antonio, TX65,035
2000 No. 8 Kansas State 24No. 1 Oklahoma 27 Arrowhead StadiumKansas City, MO 79,655QB Josh Heupel, Oklahoma
2001 No. 9 Colorado 39No. 3 Texas 37 Texas StadiumIrving, TX 65,675
2002 No. 12 Colorado 7No. 8 Oklahoma 29 Reliant StadiumHouston, TX 63,332RB Quentin Griffin, Oklahoma
2003 No. 13 Kansas State 35No. 1 Oklahoma 7Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO75,491QB Ell Roberson, Kansas State
2004 Colorado 3No. 2 Oklahoma 4262,310WR Malcolm Kelly, Oklahoma
2005 Colorado 3No. 2 Texas 70Reliant Stadium • Houston, TX71,107QB Vince Young, Texas
2006 No. 19 Nebraska 7No. 8 Oklahoma 21Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO80,031WR Malcolm Kelly, Oklahoma
2007 No. 1 Missouri 17No. 9 Oklahoma 38Alamodome • San Antonio, TX62,585QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
2008 No. 19 Missouri 21No. 4 Oklahoma 62Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO71,004QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
2009 No. 21 Nebraska 12No. 3 Texas 13 Cowboys StadiumArlington, TX 76,211DT Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska
2010 No. 13 Nebraska 20No. 10 Oklahoma 2378,802QB Landry Jones, Oklahoma
2011–2016: No championship game held
YearNo. 1 SeedNo. 2 SeedSiteAttendanceMVP
2017 No. 2 Oklahoma 41No. 10 TCU 17 AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX64,104QB Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
2018 No. 5 Oklahoma 39No. 14 Texas 2783,114QB Kyler Murray, Oklahoma
2019 No. 6 Oklahoma 30No. 7 Baylor 2365,191QB Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma
2020 No. 8 Iowa State 21No. 12 Oklahoma 2718,720*QB Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma
2021 No. 5 Oklahoma State 16No. 9 Baylor 2165,771QB Blake Shapen, Baylor
2022 No. 3 TCU 28No. 10 Kansas State 3169,335RB Deuce Vaughn, Kansas State
2023 No. 7 Texas 49No. 18 Oklahoma State 2184,523QB Quinn Ewers, Texas
2024 TBDTBD

*Limited attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results by team

Eleven different teams have played in the Big 12 Championship Game, including all four former members. Of current members that have played at least one conference season, only BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas, Texas Tech, UCF, and West Virginia have never qualified. Colorado will be rejoining the Big 12 in 2024 along with first time members Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah.

Current members

AppearancesSchoolWinsLossesPCT.Year(s) WonYear(s) Lost
4Kansas State22.5002003, 20221998, 2000
4Colorado13.25020012002, 2004, 2005
2Baylor11.50020212019
2TCU02.0002017, 2022
2Oklahoma State02.0002021, 2023
1Iowa State01.0002020

Former members

AppearancesSchoolWinsLossesPCT.Year(s) WonYear(s) Lost
12Oklahoma111.9172000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2019, 20202003
7Texas43.5711996, 2005, 2009, 20231999, 2001, 2018
6Nebraska24.3331997, 19991996, 2006, 2009, 2010
2Texas A&M11.50019981997
2Missouri02.0002007, 2008

Common matchups

Matchups that have occurred more than once:

Division era

No. of TimesNorth DivisionSouth DivisionRecordYears Played
3NebraskaTexasTexas, 2–11996, 1999, 2009
2NebraskaOklahomaOklahoma, 2–02006, 2010
2MissouriOklahomaOklahoma, 2–02007, 2008
2ColoradoOklahomaOklahoma, 2–02004, 2005
2Kansas StateOklahomaTied, 1–12003, 2000
2ColoradoTexasTied, 1–12005, 2001

Game records

TeamRecord, Team vs. OpponentYear
Most points scored (one team)70, Texas vs. Colorado2005
Most points scored (losing team)37, Texas vs. Colorado2001
Fewest points scored (winning team)13, Texas vs. Nebraska2009
Fewest points scored3, Colorado vs. Oklahoma
Colorado vs. Texas
2004
2005
Most points scored (both teams)83, Oklahoma (62) vs. Missouri (21)2008
Fewest points scored (both teams)25, Texas (13) vs. Nebraska (12)2009
Most points scored in a half42, Texas (1st half) vs. Colorado2005
Most points scored in a half (both teams)49, Oklahoma State vs. Texas (1st half)2023
Largest margin of victory67, Texas (70) vs. Colorado (3)2005
Smallest margin of victory1, Texas (13) vs. Nebraska (12)2009
Total yards662, Texas (464 passing, 198 rushing) vs. Oklahoma St2023
Rushing yards335, Nebraska vs. Texas A&M1997
Passing yards464, Texas vs. Oklahoma State2023
First downs39, Oklahoma vs. Missouri2008
Fewest yards allowed46, Oklahoma vs. Colorado (50 passing, -4 rushing)2004
Fewest rushing yards allowed−4, Oklahoma vs. Colorado2004
Fewest passing yards allowed39, Texas vs. Nebraska2009
IndividualRecord, Player, Team vs. OpponentYear
All-purpose yards442, Michael Bishop, Kansas State vs. Texas A&M1998
Touchdowns responsible for4, shared by:
Ell Roberson, Kansas State vs. Oklahoma
Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma vs. TCU
Quinn Ewers, Oklahoma State vs. Texas
 
2003
2017
2023
Rushing yards235, Darren Sproles, Kansas State vs. Oklahoma2003
Rushing touchdowns3, shared by seven players, most recent:
Mossis Madu, Oklahoma vs. Missouri
 
2008
Passing yards452, Quinn Ewers, Oklahoma State vs. Texas2023
Passing yards in a half354, Quinn Ewers, Oklahoma State vs. Texas (1st half)2023
Passing touchdowns4, shared by:
Ell Roberson, Kansas State vs. Oklahoma
Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma vs. TCU
Quinn Ewers, Texas vs. Oklahoma State
 
2003
2017
2023
Receiving yards177, Collin Johnson, Texas vs. Oklahoma2018
Receiving touchdowns2, shared by seven players, most recent:
Grant Calcaterra, Oklahoma vs. Texas
 
2018
Tackles17, shared by:
Dat Nguyen, Texas A&M vs. Kansas State
Lavonte David, Nebraska vs. Oklahoma
 
1998
2010
Sacks4.5, Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska vs. Texas2009
Interceptions1, shared by 43 players, most recent:
JuJu Brents, Kansas State vs. TCU
 
2022
Long PlaysRecord, Player, Team vs. OpponentYear
Touchdown run66, Roy Helu, Nebraska vs. Oklahoma2010
Touchdown pass81, Trestan Ebner from Jacob Zeno, Baylor vs. Oklahoma2019
Kickoff return69, Roderick Sneed, Colorado vs. Oklahoma2003
Punt return80, Jeremy Bloom, Colorado vs. Oklahoma2002
Interception return73, Aaron Killion, Colorado vs. Texas2001
Fumble return18, Caleb Kelly, Oklahoma vs. TCU2017
Punt67, Shane Lechler, Texas A&M vs. Nebraska1997
Field goal51, Kris Brown, Nebraska vs. Texas1996
MiscellaneousRecord, Team vs. TeamYear
Game attendance84,523, Oklahoma State vs. Texas2023

See also

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References

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