Texas State officially Joins Pac-12, securing required 8 football members

You can go ahead and put an end to the speculation. After so many months of rumors flying around, we now know for a fact that the Texas State Bobcats are going to be saying goodbye to the Sun Belt conference and hello to the Pac-12 in 2026. This is major college sports news.

Oregon State and Washington State were left for dead not long ago, but the Beavers and Cougars worked overtime in saving the legendary west coast conference. With Texas State on board starting in the 2026-27 academic year, the Pac-12 indeed is now up to eight football schools needed to meet FBS requirements:

Texas State joining the Pac-12 is news people have been waiting for

Obviously, this update isn't just big for football fans, but for everyone across the board. There's no question that it's huge for football, however, as the Bobcats are coming off back-to-back 8-5 seasons. Head coach GJ Kinne has fans fired up about the future of the program.

There have been several renovations over in San Marcos too. Add in the fact that Kinne landed an extension that pays him $2 million annually and it just goes to show that things are on the up and up for Texas State as a whole.

The Bobcats will be joining Wazzu, Oregon State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State for football. Keep in mind, however, that Gonzaga is also on board as a non-football university. GU basketball is always among the best in the country.

A lot of Pac-12 fans were hoping that either Memphis or Tulane would leave their respective conferences, but that didn't end up happening. While San Marcos may not be a major city, the fact of the matter is that opening up a Texas footprint is great for any conference. Only time will tell how the jump to the Pac-12 goes for TSU, but people across the state have plenty of reasons to be excited about this.