University Star

Texas State fans were faced with one glaring question during the recent college football realignment talks: Where will the Bobcats end up?

Texas State competes at the Division 1 level in collegiate athletics. The football team is a part of the Football Championship Series, which includes a playoff system to determine the champion unlike the Football Bowl Subdivision.

People are anticipating when Texas State will move to the FBS, but a moving date is unknown. Which conference the Bobcats will join is another unknown factor. The Big 12 conference is left with 10 schools after Nebraska left for the Big 10 and Colorado joined the Pac-10 this month.

Coach Brad Wright hopes the Bobcats will stay in the same conference with other Texas universities.

“I would like to play in a conference with Texas ties,” Wright said.

North Texas is the only Texas university in the Sun Belt conference. Conference-USA includes Texas-El Paso, Southern Methodist, Rice and Houston.

An upcoming important date for Texas State will be Sept. 4 when the Bobcats play their first game of the season at Houston.
Houston earned recognition last year entering the top 25 national rankings after beating Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. The Cougars were first in the FBS in total scoring and passing offenses.

Texas State has made strides in advancing toward the FBS, including winning numerous championships, renovations to the baseball and softball fields, suite additions to Bobcat Stadium with more soon to come.

Wright said the move to the FBS would help the football program and the university.

“Playing at the highest level on the playing field (with 85 scholarships) will allow this football team to bring great exposure to this university,” Wright said.

One setback this past season was the home game attendance with a 12,488 average per game. The FBS requires universities to have an average home attendance of 15,000 fans. Universities may count all spectators excluding athletes, cheerleaders and students who are performing services.

Wright said there are various reasons for Texas State students to attend the football games.

“(Texas State) has finished consecutive seasons in the top 25 for the first time in school history and had the first back-to-back winning seasons since 1990 to 1991,” Wright said.