Texas State University will join the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, 2013, and begin conference competition in the 2013-14 academic year, the league announced Wednesday.
The addition gives South Alabama and the Sun Belt’s other members a new conference opponent from Texas as the league adjusts its membership.
Leaders Welcome the Bobcats
“Texas State University has worked very hard to be ready for FBS competition and joining the Sun Belt Conference represents a new opportunity for our future,” Texas State President Denise M. Trauth said. “The Sun Belt’s record of competitive success over more than 35 years provides a tradition of excellence that we are happy to join.”
Troy University Chancellor Jack Hawkins Jr., president of the Sun Belt Conference Executive Committee, welcomed Texas State on behalf of the league’s presidents and chancellors.
“We are not the same conference we were 10 years ago,” Hawkins said. “The Sun Belt is strong athletically as demonstrated by the fact that our bowl record over the last eight years is better than five other BCS conferences. We are stronger academically, as 90 percent of our teams have achieved an Academic Progress Rates of 925 or higher. Texas State is an excellent addition to our strong, growing conference.”
“Texas State is a great addition to the Sun Belt Conference as the Bobcat athletic program is destined for success in the Football Bowl Subdivision,” Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson said. “The Sun Belt Conference’s rise to prominence will continue with Texas State as part of our league.”
About Texas State
Texas State is located in San Marcos, between Austin and San Antonio. Founded in 1903, the university enrolls more than 34,000 students and is the only university in Texas to have graduated a U.S. president, Lyndon B. Johnson, a member of the class of 1930.
The Bobcats sponsor 16 varsity sports. The football team, coached by former Alabama head coach Dennis Franchione, will play its first season at the FBS level in 2012 and will be eligible for conference championships and bowl games once it joins the Sun Belt in 2013.
According to the conference, Texas State’s athletic budget ranks in the upper half of the current Sun Belt membership, and its undergraduate enrollment ranks near the top of the league.
“We know that our student-athletes will be eager to succeed in the Sun Belt, and we will enter the conference ready to compete,” Texas State Director of Athletics Larry Teis said. “We look forward to building new rivalries with some Sun Belt schools and renewing rivalries with others. The Sun Belt Conference encompasses eight states from Texas to Florida that are rich in college athletic traditions, especially in the sport of FBS football.”
South Alabama’s Conference
South Alabama, coached in football by Joey Jones, will play its first Sun Belt Conference football schedule this fall at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile.
