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 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). The game will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas until at least 2030. 13 Kansas State's 35–7 upset victory over No. However, the North division champion did not win after No.
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. From 2017 onward, the game features the two teams with the best conference records.
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. The game was played each year since the conference's formation in 1996 until 2010 and returned during the 2017 season. 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.
