Texas State becomes ninth member of reborn Pac-12

Bobcats will join San Diego State, other western schools in reborn conference

The Pac-12 logo. | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

In a move almost as anti-climactic as it was monumental, Texas State has accepted an invitation to join the new-look Pac-12, which will include San Diego State. 

The Texas State Board of Regents on Monday approved the school’s $5 million buyout to leave the Sun Belt Conference for the Pac-12 effective July 1, 2026. The Bobcats have been in a courtship with the Pac-12 for months, and Monday’s move was necessary because the exit fee would have doubled to $10 million on Tuesday. 

After receiving a formal application, the Pac-12 Board of Directors, including all eight current and future members of the new Pac-12, voted unanimously to admit Texas State as a foundational member when the conference formally launches a year from Tuesday.

“This is a historic moment for TXST and Bobcat Athletics,” school president Kelly Damphousse said in a statement. “Joining the Pac-12 is more than an athletic move—it is a declaration of our rising national profile, our commitment to excellence, and our readiness to compete and collaborate with some of the most respected institutions in the country.

“Our acceptance into the Pac-12 affirms the strength of our academic vision, our commitment to providing access to a TXST degree, the momentum of our athletic programs, and the ambition that defines this institution.”

Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould called it “a new day in college sports and the most opportune time to launch a new league that is positioned to succeed in today’s landscape with student-athletes in mind.

“Under great leadership from Dr. Kelly Damphousse, (athletic director) Don Coryell and excellent head coaches, Texas State has shown a commitment to competing and winning at the highest level as well as to providing student-athletes with a well-rounded college experience academically, athletically and socially. We look forward to seeing the Bobcats’ future trajectory continue to shine big and bright.”  

OFFICIAL: The new Pac-12 just got bigger. 😼#TXST x #BackThePac pic.twitter.com/C4j1mLErx8

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) June 30, 2025

Texas State is the ninth member of the Pac-12 and the eighth football-playing member, a necessary addition to achieve FBS status. Gonzaga, a national basketball powerhouse, doesn’t play football. 

SDSU, Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and Utah State of the Mountain West, along with Gonzaga of the West Coast Conference, were invited last fall to join Pac-12 survivors Washington State and Oregon State in the reformulated conference.

The venerable original Pac-12 broke apart during the wild conference realignment summer of 2023, with 10 schools bolting to the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC. Oregon State and Washington State won a legal battle against the departing schools last year and retained the conference’s assets.

Texas State has been in the Sun Belt Conference since 2013, after making its FBS debut with one season in the WAC in 2012. Texas State becomes the ninth all-sports member in the Pac-12.

Just as San Diego State will be the only Pac-12 member in Southern California, inviting Texas State will give the new-look league a presence in the football-mad Lone Star State. 

Coach G.J. Kinne has guided the Bobcats to consecutive 8-5 seasons and appearances in the First Responder Bowl. 

In basketball, the Bobcats haven’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 1997 and finished 16-16 last season, including 9-9 in the Sun Belt.

San Diego State has never played Texas State in football, although it has played twice in the Frisco Bowl in the Dallas suburb of the same name and once in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth.

The Aztecs are 2-1 against the Bobcats in basketball. The Aztecs won a neutral-site game in 1989 and each school won on its home court in a two-game series in the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons.