Pac-12 makes an offer to Texas State to join conference in 2026

An industry source verified late Thursday night that Texas State has received an invitation from the Pac-12 to become an all-sports member of the league starting in the summer of 2026. However, no action may be formalized for some days.

The university’s governing board, which is scheduled to convene on Monday, must give its permission before the Sun Belt-playing Bobcats can formally accept the invitation.

As anticipated, if the Bobcats agree, the Pac-12 will reach a crucial membership milestone.

In addition to Gonzaga, which does not play football, the reconstructed conference has seven all-sports institutions committed for the summer of 2026. To fulfill certification standards, a minimum of eight all-sports members are required.

Texas State is situated in San Marcos, which is halfway between Austin and San Antonio. The invitation was initially reported by the Austin Sports Journal.

The final day of the fiscal year, Monday, is a crucial day. The Bobcats’ exit fee will rise from $5 million to $10 million if they don’t notify the Sun Belt of their intention to leave by Tuesday, July 1.

In August of last year, ten heritage colleges formally left the Pac-12, leaving only Washington State and Oregon State. Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State were among the Mountain West schools admitted to the conference a month later. Gonzaga was then added, although it was still lacking one all-sports player.

Texas State was singled out for a number of reasons, including its proximity to the football-mad state, its readiness to make athletic investments, and its potential to develop into a sub-Power Four impact program.

Additionally, the conference has long wanted to establish a presence in Texas.

Tom Hansen, Larry Scott, and George Kliavkoff, the prior commissioners, either contemplated growing into Texas or formally tried to entice institutions away from the Lone Star State.

The first to be successful is Teresa Gould, who assumed leadership of the conference in early 2024.

The Pac-12 is a different conference than it was prior to the ten schools leaving last summer, to be sure.

Furthermore, Texas State is not the same as Texas Tech, Texas A&M, or even Texas.

Relatively speaking, however, the move accomplishes a similar goal in expanding the Pac-12’s reach into one of the nation’s most populous, football-mad, and talent-rich states.

The Bobcats competed in the lower divisions for a large portion of their existence. In 2012, they moved to the Football Bowl Subdivision, played in the WAC for a year, and then moved to the Sun Belt.

Under coach G.J. Kinne, they only made two postseason appearances on their resume: in the 2023 and 2024 First Responders Bowls.

The Pac-12 Hotline was the original source of this article.

— jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com Jon Wilner. Having covered college athletics for decades, Wilner is a Heisman Trophy voter and an AP top-25 football and basketball pick. He is a five-time APSE recipient, received first place for feature writing in the 2016 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest, and was named Beat Writer of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America in 2013 for his coverage of the Pac-12.