For the Pac-12, Texas State gains more scheduling flexibility since it plays in the Central Time Zone, while also expanding its footprint beyond the West Coast.

A dozen years passed before the Pac-12 considered another Texas school — but it wasn’t the Longhorns or Aggies. During the purgatory period of 2022-23, after USC and UCLA announced their move to the Big Ten, then-commissioner George Kliavkoff put SMU in the crosshairs, along with San Diego State.

Texas State is joining the Pac-12, giving the rebuilding conference the eighth football-playing school it needed to maintain its status as an FBS conference.