Texas State 'expecting an offer' from Pac-12 in near future

Bobcats expect an invite to join the Pac-12 'in the near future'

The Pac-12 Conference logo during Pac-12 Media Day at Resorts World Las Vegas. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The next conference realignment domino involving Gonzaga and the Pac-12 is expected to fall any day now.

Texas State has informed the Sun Belt conference that the school is expecting an offer from the Pac-12 in the near future, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel. Talks between the Bobcats and the revived league have intensified over the last day, per Thamel, as the conference continues to add an eighth football-playing school to reach the NCAA requirement for FBS status.

Earlier this week, the Pac-12 signed a new media rights contract with CBS Sports, extending their current TV partnership through the 2030-31 NCAA calendar season. With that settled, league commissioner Teresa Gould expressed a readiness for expansion during an interview with Yogi Roth of the Y-Option Substack.

“I’ve been saying all along that once we get our media rights to completion, or to near-completion — enough where we have a sense of who our patterns are and what the economics look like — we would then pivot back to our membership strategy," Gould said. "And I think we’re at that point."

Sources: Texas State officials have informed the Sun Belt that they are expecting an offer from the Pac-12 in the near future. The talks between Texas State and the Pac-12 have intensified in the last 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/m4v8yiSZpj

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) June 25, 2025

The Pac-12 and Texas State are financially motivated to strike a deal before July 1. Otherwise, the buyout for Texas State to leave the Sun Belt Conference doubles from $5 million to $10 million.

All eight members of the Pac-12 have signed their Grant of Rights and membership agreements, cementing July 1, 2026 as the official date in which Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, San Diego State and Utah State join Oregon State and Washington State to form a new version of the once 100-year-old league.