Texas State joined the league in July 2013 and began conference play for the 2013–14 academic year.

[5] Oscar W. Strahan, for whom the current basketball arena is named, was hired as the university's first director of athletics, and served as the team's first head football coach from 1919 to 1934.

Joe Bailey Cheaney served as head football coach at Southwest Texas State from 1935 to 1942.

[8] Wacker left Southwest Texas State to accept the position of head coach at TCU after the 1982 season.

[9] Under O'Hara's leadership, the Bobcats shared the conference title and made the playoffs in 1983, losing in the first round.

After the 1989 season, O'Hara joined the football staff at the University of Iowa, where he remained until his sudden death in 1992 at the age of 48.

Minnesota offensive coordinator Bob DeBesse was hired by his alma mater to serve as head coach following Helduser's departure.

Manny Matsakis left Texas Tech as the Special Teams Coordinator to become the head coach of the Bobcats in 2003, but he only lasted one season.

Matsakis left Texas State after the 2003 season due to management issues associated with the football program and a draft investigation report that found violations of NCAA regulations.

They then won two games in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, eventually losing to Northern Iowa.

Bailiff left Texas State after three seasons to accept the head coaching position at Rice.

[16] Following Brad Wright's dismissal, Texas State University engaged Parker Executive Search to help them find their next head football coach.

[17] On January 7, 2011, Franchione was named head coach of Texas State's football program and signed a five-year contract valued at $350,000 per year.

[19] Texas State then negotiated membership in the more stable Sun Belt Conference beginning in 2013,[20] after the WAC stopped sponsoring football.

On November 28, 2018, Jake Spavital was hired to replace Withers as Texas State's head coach.

The third-youngest head coach in the NCAA Division I FBS in 2021, Spavital took the reins at Texas State on November 30, 2018, after overseeing some of the nation's most prolific offenses.

In his first season, Kinne led the Bobcats to an 8–5 record and their first bowl game appearance in the program's history.

In 2005, Texas State split the Southland Conference title with rival Nicholls State, and advanced to the Division I-AA football playoffs for the first time, losing in the semifinal to eventual national runner-up Northern Iowa, and finishing with an 11–3 record.

In 2013, Texas State went 6–6 in the first year the Bobcats were eligible to win a conference title or attend a bowl game after their 2-year FCS to FBS transition.

Beginning in 1915, Texas State and Sam Houston Bearkats football played annually until a major conference realignment caused the rivalry to go defunct in 2011.

However, due to another major conference realignment, the rivalry has since been renewed for the 2024 season at NRG Stadium where the Bearkats won 40-39 in front of a crowd of 27,225.

Texas State and UTSA faced off for the first time in the football continuation of the I-35 Maroon/Orange Rivalry between the two schools in the Alamodome on November 24, 2012.