Texas State renews rivalry with Sam Houston State
The 11-year wait will be over soon as Texas State will renew their longtime football rivalry with Sam Houston State for the 2024 season.
The news was first reported by Katsfans.com and confirmed by the San Marcos Daily Record.
Texas State was originally set to play Liberty for the 2024 season before conference realignment shook things out.
Previously playing as an independent, the Flames joined Conference USA along with Sam Houston State, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State, and Kennesaw State.
With the need to cancel non-conference games, the Flames opted to cancel a one time meeting for the Bobcats where Texas State was set to travel to Lynchburg, Virginia.
According to FBSCHEDULES. com, the buyout for the Liberty- Texas State game was $750,000.
With Sam Houston State replacing Liberty for the 2024 schedule, Liberty will pay Texas State $250,000 while Sam Houston State will pay the remaining $500,000.
The renewal of the rivalry will see an extra caveat as the game will be played at NRG Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Houston Texans.
The football series between Texas State and Sam Houston State is one of the oldest standing rivalries in the state of Texas.
The first ever football game between the Bobcats and the Bearkats took place on November 20, 1915 ending in a zero tie.
The series became a conference game in 1931 as both Texas State and Sam Houston State were founding members of the Lone Star Conference that both teams called home for 52 years.
Both schools along with Stephen F. Austin soon left the Lone Star Conference and Division II athletics become Division I and forming the Gulf Star Conference along with Northwestern State, Nicholls State, and Southeastern Louisiana.
In 1987, both teams joined the Southland Conference where the teams remained conference rivals till 2011 when Texas State left the Southland for the Western Athletic Conference before joining their current home in the Sun Belt and effectively ended the series due to the Bobcats being an FBS team and the Bearkats being an FCS team.
From 1984-2011, Texas State and Sam Houston State were moved to a mid-season conference to the final regular season game of the season and became the de-facto rivalry game for both teams.
