New turf
Texas State Bobcats bare their claws and revive Pac-12 conference
Texas State is now part of a more prestigious conference.
Texas State University graduated Wednesday, July 1, to a new athletic conference. Texas State, which operates campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock, is now one of nine full-time members of the newly rebuilt Pac-12 Conference.
Aside from Texas State, the conference’s new full-time members are Boise State University, Colorado State University, Fresno State University, Gonzaga University, San Diego State University, and Utah State University. A full-time member commits all or almost all of its varsity sports programs to one conference.
Until now, Oregon State and Washington State universities were the lone remaining full-time members of the Pac-12, which had 12 full-time members from 2011 to 2024.
Texas State agreed last year to jump to the Pac-12 from the Sun Belt Conference, which Texas State joined in 2013.
Pac-12 schools will kick off competition during the 2026-27 season. Next May, Texas State will host the Pac-12 women’s softball championship.
“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,” Texas State President Kelly Damphousse said in 2025.
The Pac-12 collapsed in 2024 after all but two schools, Oregon State and Washington State, exited the conference. Texas State’s membership is a key to the resurrection of the Pac-12, which now has eight football-playing schools — the minimum number required to qualify as an NCAA athletic conference.
The Texas State Bobcats compete in 16 NCAA Division I sports, including football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, and volleyball. Last month, the university hired its first women’s gymnastics coach, Sarah Brown, who will guide the team toward its inaugural season in 2028-29.
The university’s ascent to the Pac-12, a more elite conference than the Sun Belt, comes as its enrollment climbs. Enrollment this fall is expected to approach 48,000, up from nearly 45,000 last fall. This spring, Texas State awarded more than 5,200 degrees, representing the largest graduating class in the school’s 127-year history.
“Growth only matters if it creates opportunity,” Damphousse said in a new press release from Texas State. “Our mission is to expand access to higher education, prepare workforce-ready graduates, advance research that serves the public good, and help meet the needs of one of the fastest-growing states in the country.”
