This is one of two Big Twelve athletics conferences in the state of Illinois. For the Big Twelve in Central Illinois

Central Illinois

Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central section of the state, divided in thirds from north to south. It is an area of mostly flat prairie. The western section was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the distinctive western...

, see Big Twelve Conference (Illinois)

Big Twelve Conference (Illinois)

The Big Twelve Conference is a high school athletic conference in the Illinois High School Association , based in Central Illinois. While the name implies that the conference has twelve schools, there are actually only ten schools currently active, due to other schools either closing, ending...

.

For the NCAA athletic conference in the Central United States

Central United States

The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States and Western United States as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions of the Southern United States; the term is also sometimes used...

, see Big 12 Conference

Big 12 Conference

The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...

.

The Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference is a high-school athletic conference

Athletic conference

An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other at the professional, collegiate, or high school level. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller and smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels...

 with twelve high schools in northern Illinois

Northern Illinois

Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois.-Economics:Northern Illinois is dominated by the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Rockford, and the Quad Cities, which contain a majority of Illinois' population and economic activity, including...

. The conference began competing during the 2010-2011 academic year. In many respects, including membership and organization, the NI-Big 12 is much like a reboot of the old North Central Illinois Conference

North Central Illinois Conference

The North Central Illinois Conference, far better known as the NCIC, was an IHSA recognized high school extra-curricular conference. It location, as the name would indicate, was in the north-central part of the state...

 (NCIC). Eight of the schools are former members of the North Central Illinois Conference

North Central Illinois Conference

The North Central Illinois Conference, far better known as the NCIC, was an IHSA recognized high school extra-curricular conference. It location, as the name would indicate, was in the north-central part of the state...

 (1929-2011), and the conference is divided into two divisions, much as the NCIC was for decades. The former NCIC schools are Dixon, Geneseo, LaSalle-Peru, Morris, Ottawa, Rochelle, Sterling, and Streator. Also, there are five schools that were members of the Western Sun Conference

Western Sun Conference

The Western Sun Conference was an organization of eight high schools in northern Illinois, representing eight communities in that part of the state. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference began competing during the 2006-2007 academic year. Six of...

 (2007-2010). The former Western Sun Schools are DeKalb, Kaneland, Sycamore, Yorkville, and Rochelle, which left the NCIC in 2007 to join the WSC, and was thus a member of both extinct conferences.

The creation of the new conference appears to have finally settled an unstable situation that existed in the NCIC since the departure of the Rochelle Hubs after winning nine consecutive NCIC football championships. When Rochelle became a founding member of the Western Sun, the NCIC began shifting members trying to keep together a conference that was built of schools with inordinately large population variances. Whereas the NCIC schools had not all played in the same division in football for several decades, all the schools of the NIB-12 will play in the same division in all sports, regardless of the number of classes.

The new NIB-12 essentially consists of the largest of the NCIC's schools, with the smallest schools being replaced by Rochelle's new rivals from the Western Sun. The average enrollment of the NIB-12 schools in the 2008-09 school year was 1194, with the largest school being DeKalb (1710) and the smallest being Geneseo (914).

All NIB-12 high schools are members of the Illinois High School Association

Illinois High School Association

The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...

 (IHSA).

East division

School	Town	Team Name	Colors	IHSA Classes (2/3/4)	Reference
DeKalb High School	DeKalb DeKalb, Illinois DeKalb is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 43,862 at the 2010 census, up from 39,018 at the 2000 census. The city is named after decorated German war hero Johann De Kalb, who died during the American Revolutionary War....	Barbs Barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...		AA/2A/3A
Kaneland High School Kaneland High School Kaneland High School, or KHS, is a public four-year high school located in Maple Park, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Kaneland Community Unit School District 302.-History:...	Maple Park Maple Park, Illinois Maple Park is a village in DeKalb and Kane Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 1,310 at the 2010 census, up from 765 at the 2000 census...	Knight Knight A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior.... s		AA/2A/3A
Morris Community High School	Morris Morris, Illinois Morris is a city in Grundy County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,636 at the 2010 census.Morris is home to the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant, which provides a substantial portion of the electricity supply for the Chicago metropolitan area...	Redskins		AA/2A/3A
Rochelle Township High School Rochelle Township High School Rochelle Township High School, commonly referred to as RTHS, is a secondary school located in Rochelle, Illinois. Originally built in 1918, with nearly a dozen additions built on over the next 80 years, the entire edifice was razed in 2006 upon the completion of a new building, located about a...	Rochelle Rochelle, Illinois Rochelle is a city in Ogle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,574 at the 2010 census, up from 9,424 at the 2000 census. Rochelle is about west of Chicago and south of Rockford...	Hubs		AA/2A/3A
Sycamore High School Sycamore High School (Sycamore, Illinois) Sycamore High School, or SHS, is a public four-year high school located in Sycamore, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Sycamore Community Unit School District 427.-Academics:...	Sycamore Sycamore, Illinois Sycamore is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. It has a commercial district based and centered on Illinois Route 64. The population was 17,519 at the 2010 census, up from 12,020 at the 2000 census.-Early settlement:...	Spartans Spartan Army The Spartan army was the military force of Sparta, one of the leading city-states of ancient Greece. The army stood at the centre of the Spartan state, whose citizens' primary obligation was to be good soldiers. Subject to military drill from infancy, the Spartans were one of the most feared...		AA/2A/3A
Yorkville High School Yorkville High School Yorkville High School, or YHS, is a public four-year high school located in Yorkville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Yorkville Community Unit School District 115.-History:...	Yorkville Yorkville, Illinois Yorkville is a city located in Kendall County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,189 at the 2000 United States Census and is estimated to be 16,505, . It is the county seat of Kendall County...	Fox Fox Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to... es		AA/2A/3A

West division

School	Town	Team Name	Colors	IHSA Classes (2/3/4)	Reference
Dixon High School Dixon High School (Illinois) Dixon High School is a high school located on Lincoln Statue Drive and Peoria Avenue on the northern side of Dixon, Illinois. In 1918 the north and south districts were consolidated into one district and it was decided that a new, larger high school was needed...	Dixon Dixon, Illinois Dixon is a city in Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 at the 2000 census. Named for its founder, John Dixon , it is the county seat of Lee County. Located on the Rock River, Dixon was the boyhood home of former U.S...	Duke Duke A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy... s/Duchess Duke A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy... es		AA/2A/3A
Geneseo High School Geneseo High School Geneseo High School is located in Geneseo, Illinois, USA. The school is part of the Geneseo Community Unit School District 228, which covers Geneseo, Atkinson, and parts of Colona. The school is well known for its strong football program, the Geneseo Maple Leafs, also known as the Green Machine...	Geneseo Geneseo, Illinois Geneseo is a city in Henry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,586 at the 2010 census, up from 6,571 at the 2000 census. Geneseo is located 20 miles east of The Quad Cities and Geneseo is part of the Quad Cities Metro Area....	Maple Leaf Maple leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree, and is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada.-Use in Canada:At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the settlements of New France had attained a population of about 18,000... s		AA/2A/3A
LaSalle-Peru High School LaSalle-Peru High School LaSalle-Peru Township High School, also known as LaSalle-Peru High School, LPHS, or simply LP, is a public four-year high school located at 541 Chartres Street in LaSalle, Illinois, a small city in LaSalle County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States. LPHS serves the communities and...	LaSalle	Cavalier Cavalier Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration... s		AA/2A/3A
Ottawa Township High School	Ottawa Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 18,786...	Pirates		AA/2A/3A
Sterling High School Sterling High School (Illinois) Sterling High School is a high school, located at 1608 Fourth Ave in Sterling, Illinois. The principal is Jason Austin, a graduate of the high school....	Sterling Sterling, Illinois Sterling is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,370 at the 2010 census, down from 15,451 at the 2000 census. Formerly nicknamed "The Hardware Capital of the World", Sterling has long been associated with manufacturing and the steel...	Golden Warriors Warrior A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...		AA/2A/3A
Streator Township High School Streator Township High School Streator Township High School, also known as Streator High School is often abbreviated SHS, is a high school located in Streator, Illinois at 202 West Lincoln Avenue.-History:...	Streator Streator, Illinois Streator is a city in LaSalle and partially in Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago, Illinois in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. It is the center of the geographic region known as...	Bulldog Bulldog Bulldog is the name for a breed of dog commonly referred to as the English Bulldog. Other Bulldog breeds include the American Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge and the French Bulldog. The Bulldog is a muscular heavy dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose... s		AA/2A/3A

External links

• Northern Illinois Big 12 official website
• Illinois High School Association (IHSA) official website