It isn’t quite what it used to be, but it’ll do.
The Pac-12 needed an eighth football member to operate as an FBS conference in 2026. The Bobcats will join Oregon State, Washington State, Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Utah State and Fresno State.
Texas State’s addition hints at the school’s athletic potential and also gives the Pac-12 a niche in the football-rich state of Texas. The school has more than 40,000 students and is situated between Austin and San Antonio.
Actually, it’s not anywhere close to what it used to be, so it’ll be a while before the PAC-9 builds any semblance of leverage at the CFP table again.
On the flip side, you can see where BIG fans are celebrating a “successful year across all college sports”…while, in truth, the actual B1G had little to do with it at all.
B1G fans have as much to celebrate as the ACC with Stanford and the SEC with Oklahoma and Texas. I would not ever clap a hand for the Longhorns and especially not even for the traditional SEC teams listed there, and it’s the Director’s Cup so, meh.
What’s unfortunate is that a previously strong conference got sliced up with most of the better parts of it heading to the B1G, which was really not that great of a conference to begin with, and now gives them the lion’s share of say in all things CFP alongside Sankey et al with the SEC. Although Boise State made the CFP, the credibility of PAC member institutions will likely never get to the level of what it used to be. As we know, just one strong member can’t be all the reputation, and you would have to be a part of a big, successful conference to have that seat at the table, right?
Welp. Never mind.
The current state of realignment … when does it stop?
https://youtu.be/dScq4P5gn4A?si=4ppyjg4cqn74KFCZ
Won’t stop. Can’t stop.
Now the Sun Belt is looking for another team. Reports had the Sun Belt asking East Carolina if they had interest in moving to the Sun Belt. So the musical chairs continues.
So why don’t they just rebrand as the PAC-State and save the costs of reprinting business cards every time they add/lose a team?
Fuck the Irish.
Well said!
Texas State is in a nice little town along I-35 and something slightly above a commuter college. How that fits with the traditions of USC is beyond me.