Texas State‘s talks with the Mountain West Conference have stalled, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Tuesday.
The school, in fact, has informed the Sun Belt Conference that it won’t be going to the Mountain West after Texas State received a verbal offer over the weekend.
At the time of the verbal offer from the MWC, the Pac-12 had also expressed an interest in the Bobcats program, sources said, though an offer had not materialized. As a member of the Sun Belt, the exit fee for the Bobcats to make a league change is expected to be $5 million.
Texas State has a rising program that has 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 it finished 8-5 under coach G.J. Kinne and defeated Rice 45-21 in the First Responder Bowl.
The Bobcats are 2-2 this season, and hosted Arizona State in a dramatic 31-28 loss in a nationally televised game on ESPN Sept. 12. They will play at Troy on Saturday night on ESPNU.
The Mountain West’s original discussions with Texas State intensified after the decisions 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 have given it seven. It needs eight full-time members to meet conference minimum requirements.
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.