Pac-12 extends formal offer to Texas State

Bobcats expected to become Pac-12’s ninth member on Monday

Texas State | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

According to multiple reports, Texas State has received a formal invitation to join the Pac-12.

The news was first reported by Michael Adams of the Austin Sports Journal. 

According to Adams, the Texas State University System Board of Regents scheduled a Monday morning meeting to officially accept the invitation and leave the Sun Belt Conference. The Bobcats will become the ninth member of the Pac-12 for the 2026-27 athletics season. 

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that any announcement regarding Texas State’s impending move to the Pac-12 is not expected before Monday’s board meeting. 

The timing works favorably for the Bobcats, who will pay a $5 million exit fee to leave the Sun Belt. The exit fee doubles to $10 million on Tuesday, July 1. 

Monday’s expected announcement will end a months-long courtship of Texas State by the reborn Pac-12. 

The future of the Pac-12 was in serious doubt when the conference lost 10 of its 12 members to the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12. Remaining members Oregon State and Washington State won a legal battle against the departing schools last year and retained the conference’s assets. 

Instead of joining the Mountain West or a different conference, Oregon State and Washington State chose to rebuild the Pac-12. MWC schools Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State accepted invitations from the Pac-12 in September 2024. West Coast Conference power Gonzaga came aboard the following month. 

With the addition of Texas State, the Pac-12 will have eight football-playing members for the 2026-27 school year and nine for men’s and women’s basketball. The NCAA has an eight-team minimum to qualify as an FBS conference (Gonzaga does not compete in football). 

Six future Pac-12 schools play baseball: Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State and Washington State. The NCAA requires six teams to qualify as a Division I conference in baseball. 

Oregon State (2006, 2007, 2018) and Fresno State (2008) have won national titles in baseball over the last 20 years. The Beavers advanced to the 2025 College World Series as an independent. 

Texas State made the NCAA baseball tournament in 2022 and nearly knocked off No. 2 national seed Stanford in the regional round. 

The Bobcats have put together back-to-back eight-win seasons in football under head G.J. Kinne. Back in November, Kinne agreed to a new seven-year contract worth $2 million annually — one of the richest deals in the Group of 5. 

Located in San Marcos, Texas, the Bobcats have strong facilities with UFCU Stadium (28,000 capacity) and Strahan Arena (10,411 capacity). UFCU Stadium received a facelift in 2012, while Strahan Arena was scheduled to host a 2024 presidential debate that was canceled.

Texas State will be the largest school in the new Pac-12 with an enrollment just north of 40,000. Texas State is the seventh-largest university in Texas. 

The Bobcats recently won their second straight Vic Bubas Cup as the top overall athletics program in the Sun Belt.