Editing Big Eight Conference (section)

==History==

===Formation===
The conference was founded as the '''Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association''' ('''MVIAA''') at a meeting on January 12, 1907, of five charter member institutions: the [[University of Kansas]], the [[University of Missouri]], the [[University of Nebraska]], [[Washington University in St. Louis]], and the [[University of Iowa]], which also maintained its concurrent membership in the [[Western Conference (NCAA)|Western Conference]] (now the Big Ten Conference). However, Iowa only participated in football and outdoor men's track and field for a brief period before leaving the conference in 1911.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bigeightsports.com/Schools/Iowa/Iowa.htm|title=Iowa|website=www.bigeightsports.com|access-date=2012-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304201402/http://www.bigeightsports.com/Schools/Iowa/Iowa.htm|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Early membership changes===
In 1908, [[Drake University]] and [[Iowa Agricultural College]] (now Iowa State University) joined the MVIAA, increasing the conferences membership to seven. Iowa, which was a joint member, departed the conference in 1911 to return to sole competition in the Western Conference, but [[Kansas State University]] joined the conference in 1913. Nebraska left in 1918 to play as an independent for two seasons before returning in 1920. In 1919, the [[University of Oklahoma]] and [[Saint Louis University]] applied for membership, but were not approved due to deficient management of their athletic programs.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oklahoma Refused |newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World |location=Lawrence, Kansas |date=May 31, 1919 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ePBiAAAAIBAJ&pg=3169,4233565&dq=missouri-valley+nebraska&hl=en}}</ref> The conference then added [[Grinnell College]] in 1919, with the [[University of Oklahoma]] applying again and being approved in 1920. [[Oklahoma A&M University]] (now Oklahoma State University) joined in 1925, bringing conference membership to ten, an all-time high.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oklahoma Aggies in Valley Group |date=December 6, 1924 |newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hPFiAAAAIBAJ&pg=7087,5183475&dq=oklahoma+aggies+conference&hl=en}}</ref>

===Split into Big Six Conference===
At a meeting in [[Lincoln, Nebraska]], on May 19, 1928, the conference split up. Six of the seven state schools (all except Oklahoma A&M) formed a conference that was initially known as the '''Big Six Conference'''.<ref name="BorderingOnHatredRivalryWeek" /> Just before the start of fall practice, the six schools announced they would retain the MVIAA name for formal purposes. However, fans and media continued to call it the Big Six. The three private schools – Drake, Grinnell, and Washington University – joined with Oklahoma A&M to form the [[Missouri Valley Conference]] (MVC).<ref>{{cite news |title=Big Six Grid Squads Take Field Tomorrow |agency=Associated Press |date=September 16, 1928 |newspaper=The Milwaukee Sentinel |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KlNQAAAAIBAJ&pg=2423,2457251&dq=missouri-valley-intercollegiate-athletic-association&hl=en}}</ref> The old MVIAA's administrative staff transferred to the MVC.

The similarity of the two conferences' official names, as well as the competing claims of the two conferences, led to considerable debate over which conference was the original and which was the spin-off, though the MVIAA went on to become the more prestigious of the two. For the remainder of the Big Eight's run, both conferences claimed 1907 as their founding date, as well as the same history through 1927. To this day, it has never been definitively established which conference was the original.

=== Big Seven adds Colorado ===
Conference membership grew with the addition of the [[University of Colorado at Boulder|University of Colorado]] on December 1, 1947, from the [[Mountain States Conference]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Sports Roundup | first=Hugh Jr. | last=Fullerton |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |date=May 27, 1947 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=S7YqAAAAIBAJ&pg=5086,5348696&dq=big-six+colorado&hl=en}}</ref> Later that month, Reaves E. Peters was hired as "Commissioner of Officials and Assistant Secretary" and set up the first conference offices in Kansas City, Missouri. With the addition of Colorado, the conference's unofficial name became the '''Big Seven Conference''', coincidentally, the former unofficial name of the MSC.

=== Big Eight adds Oklahoma State ===
[[File:Big Eight cities.png|thumb|Locations of final Big Eight Conference full member institutions between 1957 and 1995]]
The final membership change happened ten years later, when Oklahoma A&M, newly renamed [[Oklahoma State University–Stillwater|Oklahoma State]], joined (or rejoined, depending on the source) the conference on June 1, 1957,<ref name="grouptoask">{{cite news |title=Group To Ask NCAA Opinion |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |date=May 19, 1957 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bwlSAAAAIBAJ&pg=6722,1539787&dq=missouri-valley-intercollegiate-athletic-association&hl=en}}</ref> and the conference became known as the '''Big Eight'''. However, Oklahoma State did not begin conference play until the 1958–59 season for basketball and the 1960 season for football.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Football Record Book: Big Eight Conference Annual Standings |url=https://bigtwelve_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/pdf5/134783.pdf |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107201105/https://bigtwelve_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/pdf5/134783.pdf |archive-date=2023-11-07 |website=Big 12 Conference}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Men's Basketball Record Book: Big Eight Conference Annual Standings |url=http://www.big12sports.com//pdf1/134781.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905123311/http://www.big12sports.com//pdf1/134781.pdf |archive-date=2012-09-05 |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=Big 12 Conference}}</ref> Peters' title was changed to "Executive Secretary" of the conference in 1957. He retired in June 1963 and was replaced by Wayne Duke, whose title was later changed to "Commissioner".

In 1964, the conference legally assumed the name '''Big Eight Conference'''. In 1968 the conference began a long association with the [[Orange Bowl (game)|Orange Bowl]], sending its champion annually to play in the prestigious [[bowl game]] in [[Miami, Florida]], all except the [[1974 Orange Bowl]] and the [[1975 Orange Bowl]]. Instead, Big Eight representative [[University of Nebraska-Lincoln|Nebraska]] [[Nebraska Cornhuskers football|Cornhuskers]] played in the [[1974 Cotton Bowl Classic]] and the [[1974 Sugar Bowl]] (Oklahoma, which won the conference championship in [[1973 Oklahoma Sooners football team|1973]] and [[1974 Oklahoma Sooners football team|1974]], was banned from bowl games in those seasons as part of NCAA probation).

===Formation of the Big 12 Conference===
{{Main|Big 12 Conference}}

In the early 1990s, most of the colleges in [[Division I-A]] (now known as the [[Football Bowl Subdivision]]) were members of the [[College Football Association]]; this included members of the Big Eight and Southwest Conferences. Following a [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] [[NCAA v. Board of Regents of Univ. of Oklahoma|decision]] in 1984, the primary function of the CFA was to negotiate television broadcast rights for its member conferences and independent colleges. In February 1994, the [[Southeastern Conference]] announced that they, like the [[Big Ten Conference|Big Ten]], [[Pac-12 Conference|Pac-10]], and [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]] before them, would be leaving the CFA and negotiate independently for a television deal that covered SEC schools only. This led ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'' to proclaim that "the College Football Association as a television entity is dead".<ref name="SEC LEAVES CFA">{{cite news |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/335883/SEC-OFFICIALLY-LEAVES-CFA-BIG-EAST-WILL-FOLLOW-SOON.html?pg=all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210003756/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/335883/SEC-OFFICIALLY-LEAVES-CFA-BIG-EAST-WILL-FOLLOW-SOON.html?pg=all |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 10, 2013 |title=SEC Officially Leaves CFA; Big East Will Follow Soon |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |date=February 12, 1994 |access-date=August 25, 2012 |last=Maisel |first=Ivan}}</ref> More significantly, this change in television contracts ultimately would lead to significant realignment of college conferences, with the biggest change being the dissolution of the Big Eight and Southwest Conferences and the formation of the Big 12.

After the SEC's abandonment of the CFA, the [[Southwest Conference]] and the Big Eight Conference saw potential financial benefits from an alliance to negotiate television deals, and quickly began negotiations to that end, with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] and [[ESPN]]. On February 25, 1994, it was announced that a new conference would be formed from the members of the Big Eight and four of the Texas member colleges of the Southwest Conference.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B-9LAAAAIBAJ&dq=big%2012&pg=7024%2C6649678 |title=Politics played big part information of Big 12 |date=February 28, 1994 |newspaper=The Deseret News |access-date=June 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Texas Giants Merge With Big 8 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Nevada Daily Mail |date=February 27, 1994 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1zkwAAAAIBAJ&pg=5906,3123357&dq=big+8+southwest+conference&hl=en}}</ref><ref name=decideonname>{{cite news |title= Presidents Decide on Name: Big 12 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World |date=May 13, 1994 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=10YyAAAAIBAJ&pg=1935,4801791&dq=big+12+conference+big+8+southwest+conference&hl=en}}</ref> Though the name would not be made official for several months, newspaper accounts immediately dubbed the new entity the "Big 12".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B-9LAAAAIBAJ&dq=big%2012&pg=7024%2C6649678 |title=Politics played big part in formation of Big 12 |date=February 28, 1994 |access-date=August 26, 2012}}</ref> Charter members of the Big 12 included the members of the Big Eight plus [[Baylor University|Baylor]], [[University of Texas at Austin|Texas]], [[Texas A&M University|Texas A&M]] and [[Texas Tech University|Texas Tech]].

===Dissolution===
Following the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1994, the Big Eight continued operations until August 30, 1996, when the conference was formally dissolved and its members officially began competition in the Big 12 Conference. 
Although the Big 12 was essentially the Big Eight plus the four Texas schools, the Big 12 regards itself as a separate conference and does not claim the Big Eight's history as its own.