Big 12 Conference is a conference of 10 (originally 12) universities which participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football. The conference was formed in 1994 but did not begin conference play until the fall of 1996. The schools that compose the Big 12 Conference, except West Virginia, were members of either the Big Eight Conference or the Southwest Conference, and have won 18 national titles including three since the inception of the Big 12 Conference.