Three years after USC and UCLA triggered a mass exodus by bolting for the Big Ten, the Pac-12 has extended an invitation to Texas State to give the conference eight football-playing members.
Texas State, currently part of the Sun Belt Conference, is expected to accept the offer Monday, according to several media outlets. The school would join the Pac-12 in July 2026.
USC and UCLA transformed the college sports landscape by leaving the Pac-12 on June 30, 2022, citing the Big Ten’s $8 billion media-rights deal as the primary motivation. Ten Pac-12 teams eventually departed, leaving only Washington State and Oregon State as members.