Report: MAC to add Sacramento State as football-only member
The MAC has voted to approve the addition of Sacramento State as a football-only member beginning in 2026, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel.
The Hornets are expected to pay a total cost of $23 million that includes an entrance fee of $18 million plus an additional $5 million payment to the NCAA.
An announcement regarding the decision is expected to be made in the coming days, Thamel adds.
Sacramento State officials made an aggressive push to climb to the FBS level. The NCAA denied a waiver last year that would've permitted the Hornets play as independents. However, school officials remained determined to move on from FCS competition.
"We believe our university, our students, and the entire Sacramento region deserve major college football," school president Luke Wood said last summer.
Sacramento State becomes the first university based on the West Coast to move its football program from the FCS level to the FBS in nearly 57 years, according to Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger.
The MAC will remain at 13 schools following the addition of Sacramento State. The Hornets will replace Northern Illinois, who will move to the Mountain West next year. The league added UMass in 2025, who amassed an 0-12 record in their first season.
Sacramento State earned wins in the FCS playoffs during their 2022 and 2023 campaigns, but recently hired their fourth head coach since 2022. Former Arizona assistant Alonzo Carter will take over as the Hornets' head coach next season.
Sacramento State's non-football sports will compete in the Big West when the school becomes a member in 2026-27.