Big 12 Championship Game

For the Big 12 men's basketball championship, see Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament.

Big 12 Championship Game (defunct)
Logo for the 2008 Big 12 Championship Game
Sport	Football
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Played	1996–2010
Last contest	2010
Most championships	Oklahoma Sooners (7)
TV partner(s)	ABC
Official website	Big12Sports.com Football
Sponsors
Dr. Pepper
Host stadiums
Cowboys Stadium (2009, 2010) Arrowhead Stadium (2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008) Alamodome (1997, 1999, 2007) Reliant Stadium (2002, 2005) Texas Stadium (2001) Trans World Dome (1996, 1998)
Host locations
Arlington, Texas (2009, 2010) Kansas City, Missouri (2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008) San Antonio, Texas (1997, 1999, 2007) Houston, Texas (2002, 2005) Irving, Texas (2001) St. Louis, Missouri (1996, 1998)

The Big 12 Championship Game was a college football game held by the Big 12 Conference each year between 1996 and 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.

The Big 12 South held an overall lead of 11–4 over the Big 12 North in the game. 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 Kansas State's upset victory over Oklahoma in 2003.

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 amongst 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 in Arlington, Texas. During June 2010, however, Nebraska and Colorado announced that they would leave the Big 12 for other conferences in 2011. Because NCAA rules require that a conference have twelve members in order to stage a football championship game, the conference did not hold a championship game for the 2011 season. Oklahoma and Texas have expressed that a conference title game hurts the chances of the conference to have a representative in the BCS National Championship Game. The two schools had appeared in all but two Championship games, and throughout the championship game's existence, accounted for 10 of the 15 Big 12 Championships won, with Oklahoma and Texas each having 7 and 3 respectively.

Results

Year	North Division		South Division		Site	Attendance	MVP
1996	#3 Nebraska	27	Texas	37	Trans World Dome • St. Louis, MO	63,109	RB DeAngelo Evans, Nebraska
1997	#2 Nebraska	54	#14 Texas A&M	15	Alamodome • San Antonio, TX	64,824
1998	#2 Kansas State	33	#10 Texas A&M	36	Trans World Dome • St. Louis, MO	60,798
1999	#2 Nebraska	22	#12 Texas	6	Alamodome • San Antonio, TX	65,063
2000	#8 Kansas State	24	#1 Oklahoma	27	Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO	79,655
2001	#9 Colorado	39	#3 Texas	37	Texas Stadium • Irving, TX	65,675
2002	#12 Colorado	7	#8 Oklahoma	29	Reliant Stadium • Houston, TX	63,332
2003	#15 Kansas State	35	#1 Oklahoma	7	Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO	75,491	QB Ell Roberson, Kansas State
2004	Colorado	3	#2 Oklahoma	42		62,310
2005	Colorado	3	#2 Texas	70	Reliant Stadium • Houston, TX	71,107
2006	#19 Nebraska	7	#8 Oklahoma	21	Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO	80,031
2007	#1 Missouri	17	#9 Oklahoma	38	Alamodome • San Antonio, TX	62,585
2008	#19 Missouri	21	#4 Oklahoma	62	Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO	71,004
2009	#21 Nebraska	12	#3 Texas	13	Cowboys Stadium • Arlington, TX	76,211	DT Jacob Shaw, Texas
2010	#13 Nebraska	20	#10 Oklahoma	23		78,802

Results by team

Appearances	School	Wins	Losses	PCT.
8	Oklahoma	7	1	.875
6	Nebraska	2	4	.333
5	Texas	3	2	.600
4	Colorado	1	3	.250
3	Kansas State	1	2	.333
2	Texas A&M	1	1	.500
2	Missouri	0	2	.000

• Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech never made an appearance in a Big 12 Championship Game.

External links

• Big 12 Football official site