The Texas State women’s basketball team has lost three of its last four games and is winless on the road as of Jan. 9.

Are Texas State athletics worthy of FBS status? For the most part, yes.

Enrollment reached a record 30,816 students this fall and Texas State is now the fifth largest university in the state.

Athletics at Texas State have been exponentially on the rise as well. If teams or individuals are not winning Southland Conference championships, they are always competitive.

The Bobcats claimed seven regular season or tournament SLC championships last year.

The Texas State softball team, this year, became both regular and tournament conference champions.

A couple of years ago, Texas State students voted on increases in tuition to move their athletics and university into the FBS.

Since then, the only new features in this process are a new press box with often-vacant club seats and a loss of school pride. Having to actually have a day where you can trade in your old college shirt in exchange for Texas State apparel is a good idea, but it never should have had to come to that. Fans should have spirit to begin with and that is the problem.

The Texas State men’s basketball team finally secured a victory at home after losing five consecutive road games.

The Bobcats defeated the Texas A&M-International Dustdevils 71-60, improving their record to 2-5 overall.

The Bobcats returning to the winning track by holding A&M-International to 60 points in the game. Texas State relenquished 108 points to Texas Christian in a triple overtime thriller last week.

The game was a back-and-forth battle in the first half with 12 lead changes.

When a football team is winning, too much of the credit goes to the starting quarterback. When a football team is losing, just the opposite happens.

But when that quarterback is Vince Young, everything is magnified.

Young was injured and booed off his home field two years ago. He was criticized for being an immature young man with a fragile psyche. Some even wrote him off as a bust.

In case you missed it last Sunday, Young led the Tennessee Titans on a 99-yard drive trailing the Arizona Cardinals 17-13 with 2:37 left on the clock.

The Texas State volleyball team has benefitted this season from the contributions of two players who made the decision to transfer. Mo Middleton, junior outside hitter, and Jillian Wolpman, sophomore middle blocker, have each made successful transitions to the Bobcats’ Southland Conference West Division champion team.

Middleton played in 13 games for New Mexico last season and saw an opportunity to play a more significant role for the Bobcats. Middleton had the second most kills of any Bobcat this season with 278, including a career high of 18 on two occasions.

The Texas State’s women’s golf team made a big time splash with the signing of international sensation Mara Puisite.

“I am extremely excited to announce the signing of Mara Puisite,” said Coach Mike Akers. “Mara has a wealth of international playing experience and is a proven champion.”

The Texas State men’s basketball team dropped five consecutive games to make its overall record 1-5 for the season.

The Bobcats lost the first two games of the National Invitational Tip-Off Tournament to Arizona State and Cal State Northridge. They then traveled to New Orleans and played two consolation games in Fort Worth to finish the tournament.

The Bobcats left New Orleans losing 67-55 to the Privateers.

Texas State suffered its worst shooting night of the season going 18-of-62 from the field on 29 percent shooting.

The Texas State women’s basketball team could not serve the Colorado State Rams and the Houston Cougars on its post-Thanksgiving victory plate after the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational.

Texas State fell 66-54 to Colorado State and 90-58 to Houston.

The Rams shot 11-of-28 from 3-point range. Texas State shot 2-for-11 from the field and 17-of-65 for the game (26 percent). Texas State shot 18-of-22 (81 percent) and out-rebounded the Rams 51-44 on the glass.

The Texas State volleyball team ran its win streak to 13 matches en route to the Southland Conference tournament championship Nov. 20 to Nov. 22 in San Antonio.

The Bobcats swept Southeastern Louisiana in the first round and defeated Lamar 3-1 in the semifinals to prepare for the final match against Stephen F. Austin. Texas State pushed past the Lumberjacks 3-1 in the tournament final, securing a spot in this year’s NCAA tournament.

“It’s always our goal to make the NCAA tournament and we succeeded,” said Coach Karen Chisum.