The state of Texas is in the final steps to accept an invitation to PAC-12, since it has started the process of summoning a meeting of the Regent Board to complete the movement, the sources confirmed to ESPN.
Texas state officials began to alert Sun Belt officials of their formal offer to PAC-12 and plan to accept, the sources said. The state of PAC-12 and Texas is expected to end the process soon, and the measure will occur for the 2026-27 school year for all sports, according to sources. An advertisement of the measure is not expected before Monday.
72 hours are needed to call a gathering of the Regent Board in the Texas System, according to the Open Meetings of the State of Texas. By officially calling the meeting on Friday, it allows the state of Texas to have the final meeting on Monday.
This will mark the final steps in the courtship of the state of Texas to PAC-12. The Bobcats have faced themselves as the great favorite to join the League for months as the eighth member of football. (Gonzaga is the ninth member of the League but has no football).
The measure was reduced to the last days of a key pressure point for the state of Texas, since the school output rate to join the PAC-12 for 2026 duplicates from $ 5 million to $ 10 million on July 1. With the formal approval of the Board necessary to pay the exit rate and avoid the increase, the invitation of the Texas state had to arrive at some point this week.
The PAC-12 needed an eighth soccer member to operate as an FBS conference in 2026. The Bobcats will join the state of Oregon, the state of Washington, the state of Boise, the state of San Diego, the state of Colorado, the state of Utah and the state of Fresno.
The addition of the state of Texas suggests the athletic potential of the school and also gives the PAC-12 a niche in the state rich in Texas football. The school has more than 40,000 students and is located between Austin and San Antonio.
The bobcats are leaving the consecutive 8-5 football seasons, which included two victories in Chief coach GJ Kinne. The state of Texas opens the 2025 season against East Michigan, and its first game as a PAC-12 member will be in Texas in 2026.
The Austin Sports Journal was the first to report the news of the Texas state that began the final steps for its transfer to PAC-12.
