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Pete Thamel, ESPN
Texas State officials have received a verbal offer to join the Mountain West, sources told ESPN on Saturday.
A decision is expected in the upcoming days as talks continue. The Pac-12 has also expressed interest, but that has yet to yield an offer, sources said.
Texas State is in the Sun Belt, and the exit fee for a league change is expected to be $5 million.
Texas State has a rising program that’s been in FBS play since 2012. It played one season in the WAC before joining the Sun Belt in 2013. The school played and won its first bowl game as an FBS member in 2023, as they finished 8-5 under coach G.J. Kinne and defeated Rice 45-21 in the First Responder Bowl.
The Mountain West’s discussions with Texas State intensified after the decision by UNLV and Air Force to remain in the league last week. That gave the league two linchpin schools to build around moving forward.
The Mountain West has six full-time members, and Texas State would give it seven. It needs eight full-time members to meet conference minimum requirements, with the announcement of the upcoming departures of Fresno State, Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Utah State.
The league’s six full-time members are UNLV, Air Force, Nevada, San Jose State, New Mexico and Wyoming. Hawai’i is in the league as a football member. The Pac-12 also needs one additional member, as it currently sits at seven.
One of the issues facing both leagues is that there are so few unaffiliated schools in the Western part of the country. The potential of the Mountain West adding members in Texas would expand the league’s footprint and potentially add a program in the Central time zone.