Sources – Texas State receives offer to join Mountain West

Texas State officials have received a verbal offer to join the Mountain West, sources told ESPN on Saturday.

A decision is expected in the coming days as talks continue. The Pac-12 has also expressed interest, but no offer has been made yet, sources said.

Texas State is in the Sun Belt and the exit fee to switch leagues is expected to be $5 million.

Texas State has an up-and-coming 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 when it finished 8-5 under coach GJ Kinne and defeated Rice 45-21 in the First Responder Bowl.

Talks between the Mountain West and Texas State intensified after UNLV and Air Force decided to stay in the league last week. That gave the league two core schools to build on.

The Mountain West has six full-time members and Texas State would give it seven. It needs eight full-time members to meet the conference’s minimum requirements, with the announcement of the impending departures of Fresno State, Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Utah State.

The league’s six full-time members are UNLV, Air Force, Nevada, San Jose State, New Mexico and Wyoming. Hawaii is in the league as a football member. The Pac-12 also needs an additional member, as it currently has seven members.

One of the problems facing both leagues is that there are so few independent schools in the west of the country. The Mountain West’s potential addition of members in Texas would expand the league’s footprint and could lead to the addition of a program in the Central Time Zone.