The Pac-12’s initial rebuild is nearly complete.
The conference is moving in the direction of adding Texas State as a member in all sports for the 2026–27 season, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Front Office Sports.
That would give the Pac-12 nine members, including eight football-playing schools, which is required to retain the conference’s FBS status. Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, and Gonzaga (no football program) are already set to join current Pac-12 members Oregon State and Washington State in 2026 to start a new era for the conference.
Official confirmation could come soon, as Texas State’s exit fee for leaving the Sun Belt Conference doubles from $5 million to $10 million on July 1. However, since the Pac-12 needs to send a formal invite to Texas State, and the school’s board of regents would need to meet to accept it, the FOS source doesn’t expect an announcement to be made before June 30.
In the Pac-12’s case, the only deadline is July 1, 2026, which is when the conference needs to have secured its eighth football member. But wrapping up this round of expansion a year early will give the Pac-12 plenty of time to focus on its new beginning. In 2024, the Pac-12 lost 10 members, which dispersed among the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC.
Earlier this week, the Pac-12 announced an extended media-rights agreement with CBS Sports for the lifespan of a five-year deal running until the end of the 2030–31 season that will give CBS Sports and Paramount+ access to marquee football and basketball games, as part of a package that will ultimately include multiple networks.
While there’s no guarantee the Pac-12 will expand beyond its nine committed schools for 2026, it would seem logical that the conference would look to add more in the future. Each of the Power 4 conferences has at least 16 members right now.
