With a new athletic and academic season approaching, take a look back at some of the highlights in the Big 12 Conference during the 2015-16 season.

2015-16 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS & AWARDS RECAP
Of the nine regular-season titles, eight schools captured at least one with Oklahoma (football, softball) and Texas Tech (men’s tennis, baseball) the only schools to win multiple regular season crowns.

The league crowned 20 postseason champions with Oklahoma State and Texas the only schools to earn more than two titles as each institution captured seven. The two schools led the league with eight overall Big 12 titles each. TCU won two postseason championships (men’s tennis, baseball) in the same year for the first time since joining the Big 12.

Several Big 12 team championship title win streaks remained intact following 2015-16 results:

20	-	Texas men’s swimming & diving (postseason)
12	-	Kansas men’s basketball (regular season)
8	-	Oklahoma State men’s cross country (postseason)
6	-	Baylor women’s basketball (regular season & postseason)
5	-	Texas volleyball (regular season), Oklahoma gymnastics (postseason)
4	-	West Virginia women’s soccer (regular season), Texas women’s swimming & diving (postseason), Oklahoma State wrestling (postseason), Texas men’s golf (postseason), Oklahoma softball (regular season)

2015-16 CHAMPIONSHIPS BREAKDOWN

School	Regular Season Titles	Postseason Titles	Total
Oklahoma State	1 - (WTN)	7 - (MXC, WXC, MITF, WR, EQ, WGOLF, WTN)	8
Texas	1 - (VB)	7 - (MSD, WSD, WITF, MGOLF, ROW, MOTF, WOTF)	8
Oklahoma	2 - (FB, SB)	1 - (GYM)	3
TCU	1 - (MTN)	2 - (MTN, BSB)	3
Texas Tech	2 - (MTN, BSB)	1 - (MTN)	3
Baylor	1 - (WBB)	1 - (WBB)	2
Kansas	1 - (MBB)	1 - (MBB)	2
West Virginia	1 - (SOC)		1

 

2015-16 COACHES OF THE YEAR

School	Coach of the Year Recipients
Oklahoma State	7 - Dave Smith (MCC, WCC, MITF); Jim Littell (WBB); John Smith (WR); Courtney Jones (WGOLF); Chris Young (WTN)
Texas	6 - Matt Scoggin (MDIVE, WDIVE); Eddie Reese (WSWIM); Mario Sategna (WITF); John Fields (MGOLF); Dave O'Neill (ROW)
Oklahoma	4 - Bob Stoops (FB); K.J. Kindler (GYM); Patty Gasso (SB); Jim VanHootegem (WOTF)
Kansas	3 - Ray Bechard (VB); Clark Campbell (WSWIM); Stanley Redwine (MOTF)
Texas Tech	3 - Tubby Smith (MBB); Brett Masi (MTN); Tim Tadlock (BSB)
Kansas State	1 - Casie Maxwell (EQ)
TCU	1 - David Roditi (MTN)
West Virginia	1 - Nikki Izzo-Brown (SOC)

Texas collected the most Player of the Year distinctions with 11, while Oklahoma (eight), Oklahoma State (seven) and Baylor (five) also tallied five or more. Totals include any honor 'of the year' honor with the exceptions of Newcomer and Freshman of the Years. 

BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR BREAKDOWN
(includes position categories, excludes Newcomer & Freshman of the Year honors)

Baylor (5)	–	Andrew Billings, Football Defensive Player of the Year; Spencer Drango, Football Offensive Lineman of the Year; Andrew Billings, Football Defensive Lineman of the Year; Alicia Gasser, Equestrian Equitation Over Fences Rider of the Year; Julian Lenz - Men’s Tennis Player of the Year
Iowa State (1)	–	Caitlin Nolan, Volleyball Libero of the Year
Kansas (2)	–	Ainise Havili, Volleyball Setter of the Year; Chelsie Miller, Women’s Swimmer of the Year
Kansas State (2)	–	Morgan Burns, Football Special Teams Player of the Year; Akela Jones, Women’s Indoor Track & Field Most Outstanding Performer
Oklahoma (8)	–	Baker Mayfield, Football Player of the Year; Buddy Hield, Men’s Basketball Player of the Year; Chayse Capps, Gymnast of the Year; McKenzie Wofford, Gymnastics Event Specialist of the Year; Maegan Niehart, Rower of the Year; Erin Miller, Softball Player of the Year; Kelsey Arnold, Softball Defensive Player of the Year; Paige Parker, Softball Pitcher of the Year
Oklahoma State (7)	–	Thomas Hatch, Baseball Pitcher of the Year; Brittney Martin, Women’s Basketball Offensive & Defensive Player of the Year; Ty Paris, Equestrian Horsemanship Rider of the Year; Emmanuel Ogbah, Football Defensive Player of the Year; Vanessa Shippy, Softball Player of the Year; Alex Dieringer, Wrestler of the Year
TCU (3)	–	Molly Peddicord, Equestrian Equitation Over Fences Rider of the Year; Chantz Stewart, Equestrian Reining Rider of the Year; Ronnie Baker, Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Performer of the Year
Texas (11)	–	Prince Ibeh, Men’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Year; Imani Boyette, Women’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Year; Beau Hossler, Men’s Golfer of the Year; Joseph Schooling, Men’s Swimmer of the Year; Mark Anderson, Men’s Diver of the Year; Meghan Houston, Women’s Diver of the Year; Zack Bilderback & Ryan Crouser, Men’s Indoor Track & Field Performer of the Years; Morolake Akinosun, Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Performer of the Year; Amy Neal, Volleyball Player of the Year; Breaunna Addison, Women’s Tennis Player of the Year
Texas Tech (3)	–	Janine Beckie, Women’s Soccer Player of the Year; Gabby Barker, Women’s Golfer of the Year; Eric Gutierrez, Baseball Player of the Year
West Virginia (1)	–	Kadeisha Buchanan, Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Year

2015-16 NATIONAL & NCAA ATHLETIC SUCCESS

• The Big 12 totaled 16 top four finishes in 2015-16 with three national championships, six runner-up finishes and seven squads in the semifinals of their respective postseason events. In spring sports, the Conference produced seven top four or better finishes.
  
  
• The Big 12 was the only conference to have representation in the postseason “final four” in football, men’s basketball and baseball.
  
  
• In sports with NCAA selections, the Big 12 had at least half of its teams advance to the NCAA postseason in men’s tennis (100%), men’s basketball (70%), women’s basketball (60%), women’s tennis (60%), softball (57%) and volleyball (55%), while 70% of the league’s football teams competed in the bowl season.
  
  
• Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State finished in the top 20 of the final Learfield Director’s Cup Standings.
  
  
• The Big 12 won the 2016 Big12/SEC Challenge in men’s basketball, 6-4. The Big 12 has taken the trophy all three years.
  
  
• For the second consecutive season, two teams competed in the College Football Playoff New Year’s Bowl lineup. Advancing seven teams to the postseason, the Big 12 was the only conference with all of its bowl opponents from power conferences.
  
  
• For the third year in a row, the Big 12 checked in at No. 1 in men’s basketball RPI and advanced 70 percent of its teams to the NCAA postseason.
  
  
• Women’s basketball combined to finish second in the NCAA RPI as league teams have collectively ranked in the top two spots in nine of the past 10 years.
  
  
• The Big 12 sent two teams to the NCAA Volleyball Final Four for just the second time in league history.
  
  
• For the second year in a row, the Big 12 advanced 100 percent of its men’s tennis teams to the NCAA postseason. Seventy-five percent of men’s and women’s teams combined to represent the league.
  
  
• The Big 12 advanced all three of its NCAA postseason baseball teams to the College World Series with OSU, TCU and TTU making up three of the final five teams playing for the national championship. The trio of teams recorded postseason wins against 12 different conferences.
  
  
• The Big 12 picked up six national recognitions for Coach of the Year, including Texas swimming & diving, Kansas men’s basketball, TCU equestrian, Texas men’s golf, Oklahoma softball and TCU baseball.
  
  
• Hall of fame inductees included Bill Snyder, Augie Garrido and Sherri Coale. 

ACADEMIC SUCCESS

• Big 12 student-athletes totaled 1,881 Academic All-Big 12 selections including 124 with 4.0 grade point averages. Fifty-nine percent of this year’s Academic All-Big 12 honorees were first team selections (1,116).
  
  
• Four student-athletes captured the NCAA Elite 90 award, given to the student-athlete at each national championship level that has achieved the highest academic standard among its peers – Janae Hall, Kansas, Volleyball; C.J. Cole, Oklahoma, Men’s Basketball; Laura Lonardi, Baylor, Women’s Golf; and Tyler Floyd, Texas Tech, Baseball.
  
  
• Iowa State’s Christina Hillman was named the 2015-16 Academic All-America of the Year for Division I Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country.
  
  
• The Big 12 was the only conference to have multiple schools represented among five distinguished professionals inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame. Iowa State men's basketball standout and coach and now NBA head coach Fred Hoiberg, along with TCU men's basketball standout and former Harvard Business School professor Dr. James I. Cash, Jr. were chosen.  Created in 1988, the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame recognizes Academic All-Americas who received college diploma at least 10 years ago, have achieved lifetime success in their professional careers, and are committed to philanthropic causes.

CHAMPIONS FOR LIFE

• The Big 12 launched its Champions For Life campaign, spotlighting more than 100 current and former student-athletes during the 2015-16 academic year. The initiative highlights student-athlete classroom success, leadership, community service and obstacles overcome in the pursuit of higher education. The features reinforce the valuable life skills that forever benefit student-athletes, many of which are first-generation scholars, as student-athletes tend to graduate at a higher rate than the general student body and leave college with less debt.

REFORM, NATIONAL INITIATIVES & CONFERENCE NEWS

• Per institution revenue distribution continues to be among the highest in the country as members received $30.4 each for fiscal year 2015-16.
  
  
• The Conference announced the reinstatement of a league championship game in the sport of football beginning with the 2017 season.
  
  
• The Conference hosted its fourth State of College Athletics Forum – Issues Facing College Athletics – in November 2015 which included an emphasis on the challenges confronting college football.
  
  
• The Conference adopted a league-wide limit on the football in-season live contact opportunities to no more than two times per week, including gamedays, per student-athlete. A conference-wide serious misconduct policy was enacted by the league in February. In July, the Big 12 along with the four additional autonomy conferences announced an agreement in concept on changes they will propose that are intended to give students who play sports more time off. The purpose of the changes is to rebalance the student experience between athletics and campus life, providing students with more time to focus on other college interests, including academics, work experience, travel, and additional rest. 

LOOKING AHEAD

• The league intends to have a schedule model and competition format for the football championship game developed by the end of this upcoming season.
  
  
• Half of the non-conference football schedule (15 games) features teams that played in bowl games last season with five of those matchups against teams that competed in CFP bowls a year ago.
  
  
• The Big 12 will host the 2017 NCAA Women’s Final Four at the American Airlines Center in Dallas April 2 and 4. The Conference will also host the NCAA Men’s Basketball Midwest Regional in Kansas City in March 2017.
  
  
• Conference teams will continue to compete in a round-robin schedule in 2016 where, in order to win the conference championship, a team must face each conference opponent.
  
  
• The Big 12 will also reinstate its postseason softball championship in 2017, with the event returning to Oklahoma City’s ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Complex. The Conference will hold postseason league championships 16 times during the 2016-17 campaign.