Big Eight Conference

Big Eight Conference

Formerly	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1907–1964) Big Six Conference (1928–1948, unofficial) Big Seven Conference (1948–1957, unofficial) Big Eight Conference (1957–1964, unofficial)
Association	NCAA
Founded	1907
Ceased	1996
Commissioner	Carl C. James (final) 1980–1996
Sports fielded	21[1] men's: 11 women's: 10
Division	Division I
No. of teams	8 (final), 12 (total)
Headquarters	Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Region	Midwestern United States, Mountain States, West South Central States
Locations

The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA)^[2] by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri,^[2] University of Nebraska, and Washington University in St. Louis. Additionally, the University of Iowa was an original member of the MVIAA, while maintaining joint membership in the Western Conference (now the Big Ten Conference).

The conference's membership at its dissolution consisted of the University of Nebraska, Iowa State University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State University. The Big Eight's headquarters were located in Kansas City, Missouri.

In February 1994, all 8 members of the Big Eight Conference and 4 of the members of the Southwest Conference announced that the 12 schools had reached an agreement to form the Big 12 Conference.^[3] From a conventional standpoint, the Big 12 was a renamed and expanded Big Eight. But from a legal standpoint, the Big Eight ceased operations in 1996, and its members joined with the four SWC schools (Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, and Texas Tech) to form the Big 12 the following year.