The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska, and Washington University in St. Louis. Additionally, the University of Iowa was a joint member of the newly formed MVIAA and the older Western Conference (now the Big Ten Conference).
The Big Eight dissolved in 1996, when its members joined the newly formed Big 12 Conference. The Big Eight's headquarters were in Kansas City, Missouri. Although Kansas City wanted to be the home for the headquarters of the new conference, the member schools voted, 7–5, to establish the conference headquarters in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. (The four Texas schools plus Colorado, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State voted for Irving, while Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, and Nebraska voted for Kansas City.)
Read more about Big Eight Conference: History, Commissioners, Conference Facilities
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