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Texas State Officially Joins Pac-12 Conference

The new-look Pac-12 will have a foothold in the Lone Star State.

Dan Lyons

Texas State is set to join the Pac-12 after the Board of Trustees approved a $5 million exit from the Sun Belt.
Texas State is set to join the Pac-12 after the Board of Trustees approved a $5 million exit from the Sun Belt. / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images
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After a wave of conference realignment last offseason, the new-look Pac-12 remained one football-playing member short of the eight schools necessary to remain an FBS conference. The league filled that vacancy on Monday, adding Sun Belt school Texas State.

The school's board of trustees voted to approve the $5 million buyout required to leave the Sun Belt Monday, according toYahoo's Ross Dellenger. The timing was incredibly important, as the buyout was set to double to $10 million for the Bobcats to leave in time for the 2026 season on Tuesday, July 1. The Pac-12 officially announced its newest future league member shortly thereafter.

The Bobcats join a league currently occupied by Oregon State and Washington State. The two schools—the remnants of the classic Pac-12 that was raided by the Big Ten and later Big 12 and ACC over the last few years—previously added five programs from the Mountain West: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State. Gonzaga is also joining the league but does not field a football program.

Texas State became the favorite to fill the eighth football spot earlier this month, and while they are a relative up-and-comer in the FBS ranks, the Bobcats have a number of attractive qualities that make them a solid fit for the league.

The program, which began play in 1904 but only elevated to college football's top division in 2012, has posted back-to-back 8–5 seasons and bowl wins under coach G.J. Kinne. The school's San Marcos campus is less than an hour from two sizable markets—Austin and San Antonio—and it boasts an impressive enrollment of over 40,000 students.

With the move, the Sun Belt will likely keep the conference realignment dominos falling, with Conference USA programs Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky expected to be the top targets, per Dellenger,

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Dan Lyons
DAN LYONS

Dan Lyons is a staff writer and editor on Sports Illustrated's Breaking and Trending News team. He joined SI for his second stint in November 2024 after a stint as a senior college football writer at Athlon Sports, and a previous run with SI spanning multiple years as a writer and editor. Outside of sports, you can find Dan at an indie concert venue or movie theater.

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