Texas State faces realignment questions sooner than later

The announcements of Oregon and Washington moving to the Big Ten Conference, while Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah move to the Big 12, has left the world of college athletics in shock –while California, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State are left scrambling in the wreckage.

Once the home of premier college athletics on the West Coast, the Pac-12 is now a shell of its former self.

With the realignment affecting the top of FBS, it is only a matter of time before Texas State must face the choices.

The Bobcats are no stranger to realignment, having moved conferences a total of four times.

Now a decade in their current home in the Sun Belt Conference, Texas State may soon face questions about what is best for them, as the world of college athletics changes around them once more.

To be perfectly honest, the Sun Belt is currently the best spot for Texas State.

As conferences opt for membership stretching coast to coast, the Sun Belt remains adamant on staying regional, and focusing on local rivalries.

With a concrete identity and brand, the Sun Belt now has the opportunity to be one of the better mid-major conferences in the nation, with the ability to send multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament, no matter the sport.

However, this doesn't mean there aren't drawbacks for Texas State.

The Bobcats are currently the lone team from Texas in the Sun Belt Conference, following UTA’s move back to the WAC last year.

While their previous conferences had the Bobcats traveling within Texas and across the border to Louisiana, Texas State now travels over 1,000 miles for conference games in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and West Virginia, as well as Mississippi and Alabama.

Though football is played once a week, the toll of traveling for the Bobcat athletes, who participate in soccer, basketball, baseball, softball and the rest of the Olympic Sports, while playing more than once a week, may come sooner rather than later.

When the time comes, Texas State will have to choose what is best for Texas State.

But the decision must be for the sake of the athletes, rather than chasing imaginary dollar signs that other universities seemingly are doing, while disregarding their own athletes.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc