Editor’s note: This is a column and does not reflect the views or opinions of the Daily Barometer.

After months of uncertainty, the Pac-12 athletics conference is officially set to make its grand return in 2026 with its ninth member, the Texas State Bobcats. But what does this mean for OSU? 

The 2025 season now looks to be the final year of the newly anointed “Pac-2” conference, which consisted of the Beavs and the Washington State Cougars. 

Now after nearly a year of searching, the ninth and final school has joined- Texas State University, out of San Marcos, Texas. 

The Bobcats have spent the last several years playing out of the Sun Belt conference and will now begin in conference play with the newly rebuilt Pac-12 in 2026, alongside the Beavs and the Cougs. 

The new Pac-12 will now consist of Oregon State, Washington State, Boise State, Colorado State, Utah State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, and Texas State. 

More notably now, this will officially bring back the Pac-12 conference championship games to the sports programs here at OSU, along with bringing back meaningful in-coreference games and rivals that have been missed since the original disbandment. 

Most intriguingly, it now sets the stage for OSU to make more legitimate playoff pushes in certain sports, most notably football, with a power five conference now being reassembled. 

This sets the stage for an epic set of games and storylines to begin, starting in 2026.