SAN MARCOS, Texas — Texas State is staying put. At least for now.
The athletics department confirmed Tuesday it has decided to stay in the Sun Belt Conference after “preliminary discussions with an interested conference.”
As conference realignment continues, ESPN reported that Texas State received a verbal offer to join the Mountain West Conference over the weekend. There was also interest from the Pac-12, but nothing materialized.
Currently, the Mountain West boasts six full-time members with the Air Force, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV and Wyoming. Hawai’i is a member of the conference in just football.
In other moves, UTEP will join some of its former Western Athletic Conference rivals in the Mountain West. UTEP’s move comes after the Pac-12 poached Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State from the conference. The Miners are expected to leave Conference USA beginning in 2026.
“The addition of UTEP restores historic rivalries with several of our member institutions within the geographic footprint and provides valuable exposure in the great state of Texas,” Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement. “We welcome and look forward to competing against the student-athletes of UTEP.”
Texas State athletic director Don Coryell said in a statement that it “looks forward to competing for Sun Belt championships against the 13 other schools in the conference.”
The Bobcats are currently 2-2 on the season and projected to be one of the conference favorites along with Appalachian State.