With the new Pac-12 formally getting underway today, Texas State arrives as one of the league’s freshest faces and one of its most intriguing. The Bobcats pledged a year ago to help get the conference to the eight-member mark needed for NCAA recognition, and now they’re in the mix alongside Washington State, Boise State, San Diego State, Utah State, Colorado State and Fresno State. Oregon State and Gonzaga are also part of the group.
Texas State is hardly coming in quietly. The Bobcats have put together solid football in recent years, their basketball programs are on the rise and baseball has been strong too.
Even more striking is how fast the school has climbed: in 40 years, it has moved from Division II to FCS to lower-tier FBS and now to the Pac-12. That kind of ascent does not happen by accident.
The athletic department has clearly been treated like a priority. Texas State and an Austin credit union agreed to a 15-year stadium naming rights deal worth $23 million, a Sun Belt record.
The school also signed football coach GJ Kinne to a new seven-year deal in November of 2024, a contract reportedly worth around $2 million annually. Last year, Texas State finished a $42 million end zone complex expansion at UCFU Stadium that included a new weight room, hospitality suite, players’ lounge and more.
Put it together and the Bobcats start to look like a sleeping giant. The move to the Pac-12 brings risk, especially with the geography and the lack of West Coast familiarity, but it also offers a chance to change the program’s trajectory in a hurry.
Texas State sits between two major Texas markets, Austin and San Antonio, and those numbers matter. Austin is the 34th-largest DMA market and reaches approximately 1.03 million TV households, while San Antonio ranks 31st and reaches approximately 1.09 million.
The school’s rise has come through a long line of conference stops: Sun Belt from 2013-2026, Western Athletic in 2012-13, FCS independent in 2011-12, Southland Conference from 1987-2010, Gulf Star Conference from 1984-86 and the Lone Star Conference from 1932-83.
Texas State also brings some recognizable names. Among its famous alumni are Lyndon B.
Johnson, George Strait, Taylor Sheridan, Powers Boothe and Paul Goldschmidt. On campus now, the leadership group includes president Kelly Damphousse, athletic director Don Coryell - no relation to the former San Diego Chargers coach - and Kinne on the football sideline.
Men’s basketball coach Terrence Johnson is set at $415,000 per year, while Chris Kielsmeier leads the women’s program.
There are also a couple of familiar ties for Washington State fans. Men’s basketball associate head coach Bennie Seltzer was a standout guard at WSU from 1989-93 and later served as a Cougar assistant under Ernie Kent. Running back Jaylen Jenkins also played at WSU from 2022-23.
On the field, Texas State has been trending in the right direction. Over the last five years, football is 31-32, men’s basketball is 99-74 and women’s basketball is 76-78.
The Bobcats and Cougars have not met in football, women’s basketball or women’s soccer. WSU beat Texas State 83-61 in men’s basketball in Pullman in 2022, and the Cougars also won 3-0 in volleyball in Fairbanks in 2002.
Keff Ciardello, host of the Win Now or Get Bent podcast, said the renewed Pac-12 buzz has created real momentum around the program. "There's a ton of excitement for the Bobcats, with the revival of the Pac-12," Ciardello said.
"After three seasons of just getting over .500 and winning bowl games in each of the last three years, but not really competing for a conference championship, the standard is a little higher at Texas State. The expectations amongst fans and everything is high, especially when you have starting quarterback Brad Jackson returning.
“It’s pretty hard at the G6 level after what he did last season to get a quarterback of that caliber to come back. There are some pretty high expectations for the Bobcats.
I don't think .500 or just over .500 is going to cut it anymore. There was almost a decade of this team not getting over four wins before the last three seasons.
So it was a long time coming, but I think expectations are high."
Ciardello also sees a program ready to make noise right away in its new league. "Texas State will be one of the top offenses in the Pac-12 but with a tough road schedule and questions on defense I see the Bobcats finishing with eight wins," Ciardello said.
"The Bobcats move to the Pac-12 is the biggest move this athletic department has ever made in over 100 years of existence. What it has done over the last year for fan support and brand exposure is unlike anything Texas State has experienced.
"But the administration isn't just happy to be there. They want to compete and they are raising the funds to do so. The new kids on the block want to make noise and they want to do it quickly."
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For Washington State, the larger takeaway is that the rebuilt Pac-12 will not just exist again, it should carry some real basketball weight right away. Early projections point to a league with depth, and Gonzaga immediately gives the group a marquee program to measure itself against, while several of the other additions were good enough to keep the conference from feeling like a patchwork after all. Still, the final shape of that hierarchy will matter a lot once the schedule is in place and the Cougars start finding out where they fit in it. [Read more 🡒]