{"id":398263,"date":"2026-08-05T11:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T11:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398263\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T11:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T11:46:10","slug":"how-the-texas-state-bobcats-can-earn-a-college-football-playoff-berth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398263\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Texas State Bobcats can earn a College Football Playoff berth"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bobcats had one winning season up until the hiring of head coach GJ Kinne.<\/a> Now, under him and with investment from athletic director Don Coryell and university president Kelly Damphousse,<\/a> Texas State is eyeing a College Football Playoff berth.<\/p>\n

Don’t count out the Bobcats, though. Here’s how they could make a postseason push in the 2026-27 season<\/p>\n

Texas State’s offense hasn’t been an issue in the three years Kinne has been at the helm, as the team has averaged over 35 points per game. The defense is what’s holds the Bobcats back.<\/a><\/p>\n

Texas State emphasized an aggressive approach in years past, hunting for quick pressures and turnovers. When it worked, it gave the Bobcats short fields that the high-powered attack could take advantage of. But when it didn’t, opponents racked up huge chunk plays that negated Texas State’s scoring. The Bobcats have allowed 28.8 points per game over the past three seasons; lowering that number is the first step in reaching their peak.<\/p>\n

Kinne and his staff leaned into more multiple defensive fronts toward the end of 2025, which paid dividends. The reshaping of the coaching staff, led by defensive coordinator Will Windham<\/a>, should help Texas State continue that trend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear where the Pac-12 stands among the hierarchy of college football. But for Texas State to make the CFP, it needs to assert itself as a tier above the smaller conferences<\/p>\n

While two mid-major programs earned playoff berths in 2025, that might not always be the case. For Texas State to be one of those teams this year, it must win the Pac-12. But a poor showing against non-conference teams combined with a competitive conference slate would weaken its case should Tulane or James Madison have another dominant season.<\/p>\n

If the Pac-12 proves that it\u2019s capable of handling teams from the Sun Belt, the American and the Mountain West, the conference champion will be looked upon more favorably by the committee.<\/p>\n

Texas State under Kinne has a history of faltering once October rolls around,<\/a> holding a 3-9 record during that time. The Bobcats were 3-1 rolling into the 10th month in 2025. They left 3-4, suffering some dumbfounding losses and falling out of title contention.<\/p>\n

Kinne\u2019s ability to keep Texas State churning in late fall will decide whether this season will be different. The Bobcats suffered some unlucky breaks during their five-game slide last year, losing four one-score contests, meaning they\u2019re a prime regression candidate.<\/p>\n

The October slide is only a symptom of the issue. The Bobcats have shown flashes of excellence. The next step is sustaining that level of play in every single month. If they\u2019re able to do so, a playoff berth will be within reach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bobcats had one winning season up until the hiring of head coach GJ Kinne. Now, under him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[261,9329,1771,9330,107942,65998,27,29,28,9327,9328,1927],"class_list":["post-398263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-college-football","tag-gj-kinne","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-division-i","tag-pac-12","tag-pac-12-conference","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-state-bobcats","tag-texas-state-bobcats-football","tag-texas-state-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}