Report: Texas State informs Sun Belt of expected Pac-12 offer 'in near future'

After settling down for a brief period, conference realignment appears ready to pick up again. This time, it looks as though it will include the Texas State Bobcats potentially making a move to the Pac-12.

According to a recent report by Pete Thamel, Texas State has informed the Sun Belt that it is expecting an offer from the Pac-12 in the near future. Over the last 24 hours, those talks between the school and the Pac-12 have intensified to help get to this point.

“Texas State officials have informed the Sun Belt that they are expecting an offer from the Pac-12 in the near future,” Thamel wrote. “The talks between Texas State and the Pac-12 have intensified in the last 24 hours.”

This comes after the Pac-12 was rocked by the prior round of conference realignment. That brought the conference down to just two teams ahead of the 2024 season, Washington State and Oregon State. Since then, they’ve been working to replenish their numbers.

The first conference the Pac-12 turned to poach from was the Mountain West. There, the conference was able to poach Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, San Diego State, and Utah State. That leaves the conference with seven teams. However, the conference is clearly looking to expand beyond that because in order to qualify as an FBS conference, they’ll need to be at a minimum of eight schools.

This change could be coming quickly. Thamel previously shared that the buyout for Texas State to leave the Sun Belt for the 2026-27 season jumps from $5 million to $10 million on July 1. That’s less than a week away. So, for all parties involved, it would make financial sense to make the move sooner rather than later.

“The finances from a new TV deal are expected to be below what the league’s consultants pitched schools initially,” Thamel has also reported. “In the wake of the initial flurry of schools going to the league, ESPN reported schools were shown projected revenue from a TV deal north of $10 million per school, but conditions have changed.”

Ultimately, there is a chance that this move could set off the dominoes for another round of conference realignment. The Sun Belt will likely look to backfill the spot left by Texas State. The conference that the Sun Belt poaches from will then need to backfill as well, just as other rounds of realignment have gone. Thamel and ESPN report that Louisiana Tech would be the favorite to replace Texas State in the Sun Belt. Meanwhile, Tarleton State would be the favorite to join Conference USA should a spot open up.