Texas State, UTSA, North Dakota State, South Dakota State floated as Pac-12 options

In response to Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State joining the Pac-12 officially on September 12, ESPN's Bill Connelly floated Texas State, UTSA, North Dakota State, and South Dakota State as potential future additions.

"Really interesting that they're trying to piecemeal things instead of just importing the whole MWC," Connelly said of the Pac-12. "I assume UNLV still gets the call, but will they try to rope in a couple of Texas schools (UTSA/TXST)? The Dakota State duo?"

Texas State and UTSA have been on the rise in recent years; with the Roadrunners in particular becoming a Conference USA power under Jeff Traylor before making a jump to the AAC in 2023. North Dakota State established itself as the greatest FCS team of all time in the 2010s while South Dakota State has won three straight titles and is challenging the Bison's supremacy.

While the Pac-12 going into the Dakotas and the Lone Star State would do away with the Pac-12 being a regional conference, arguably no conference in the country honors being regional anyway. The ACC has Cal, Stanford, and SMU now, the predominantly Midwest-based Big Ten has USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington, and Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri aren't in the southeast.

Pac-12 has many options in conference realignment

The Pac-12 is in a great place right now. College football has many rising programs in the Group of 5 and FCS ranks that are deserving of a jump. The Pac-12 as a brand has been missed this season and can now return with "Pac-12 After Dark," making things whole again for the sport's most diehard fans.

With the rest of the Mountain West up for grabs, not to mention the schools Connelly mentioned and teams from other Group of 5 conferences, the Pac-12 has its pick of the litter.

It's a good thing Oregon State and Wazzu didn't fold into the Mountain West and instead maintained their legal war chest.

The Pac-12 is back because of that.