Big 12 Conference football programs have six claimed national championships

When Texas and Oklahoma left the Big 12 Conference for the SEC following the 2023-2024 school year, the two schools took 11 claimed national championships in football with them.

Now, the Big 12 can only claim six national championships among its 16 football programs — including one of the most dubious national titles of all time. Here’s a look at the six national championship banners that now reside in the Big 12.

UCF (2017): Just two years after going 0-12, the Knights went 12-0 under second-year head coach Scott Frost and capped the year with a Peach Bowl win over Auburn. UCF was the only undefeated team in FBS but were left out of the College Football Playoff. The Knights were ranked No. 1 by the Colley Matrix, “a mathematical ranking designated by the NCAA as a major selector of championships and listed in the NCAA football records book.”

Colorado (1990): The Buffaloes went 11-1-1 and won the only national championship in school history despite opening the season with a tie against Tennessee and losing 23-22 at Illinois a few weeks later. Colorado ultimately split the title with Georgia Tech, which some people looked at as a being penalized for the controversial “fifth-down” win over Missouri.

BYU (1984): The last team outside of the power conferences to win a national title went 13-0 and only had one win over a ranked opponent, defeating No. 3 Pittsburgh in the season opener — Pittsburgh would go on to finish the seaso 3-7-1. BYU ended the season with a 24-17 win over Michigan in the Holiday Bowl.

Oklahoma State (1945): Then known as Oklahoma A&M, this team was retroactively granted a national championship by the American Football Coaches Association in 2016. Oklahoma A&M went 9-0 and was led by halfback Bob Fenimore, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1947 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears.

TCU (1935, 1938): The 1935 TCU team went 12-1 with its only loss to SMU and three teams were awarded different national championships at the end of the season — TCU, SMU and Minnesota. The 1938 TCU team went 11-0 behind Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Davey O’Brien and finished No. 1 in the final AP Poll.