Texas State

The first decade of Texas State's FBS existence is the foundation the current program is built against. Reclassified in 2012, the Bobcats spent years losing on a Sun Belt schedule that wasn't supposed to be that hard — the kind of program opponents scheduled for guaranteed wins, the kind that gets filed under 'newcomer that doesn't matter.' GJ Kinne arrived in 2023 and immediately ended that chapter: a First Responder Bowl win in year one, a second bowl win in year two, a third straight bowl win in December 2025 with a 41-10 rout of Rice in the Armed Forces Bowl. Three years, three bowls, no losing seasons. The turnaround was fast enough to feel structural, not lucky.

Then came the news that changed what the program is. Texas State was announced as a Pac-12 member effective July 1, 2026 — the revamped conference's flagship Texas school, sitting on the I-35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio, the most recruit-rich stretch of road in the country. The upgrade from a Sun Belt school to a Power conference program, inside a decade of FBS membership, is an ascent the sport has almost no precedent for.

The 2026 season is the first real test of whether San Marcos belongs at this level. Kinne enters year four with a 7-6 Sun Belt foundation and a Power conference schedule waiting on the other side. The question isn't whether Texas State deserves the seat — the invitation settles that — but whether a program this young has the roster depth to compete in a league that suddenly looks like a real Power conference.