SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Taking a drive through the sprawling campus of California State Sacramento and it’s obvious the school is leading North Dakota State in one category: the color of fall leaves. Yes, a day before the Bison play the Hornets in a non-conference football game, the trees are showing signs of summer coming to an end.
But what’s not coming to a conclusion is the school’s insistent quest of becoming a player in Division I FBS football. The Hornets are just getting going and the athletic department is banking on the program joining the rest of the city in the big-time arena.
The school is 32,000 students strong. Sacramento has the NBA’s Kings and a top-notch professional soccer franchise. This summer, it had Major League Baseball as the interim host for the Las Vegas A’s and will maintain a solid minor league team. It was the only top 20 media market in the country without an FBS team.
“It’s a community that is thirsting for this,” said athletic director Mark Orr. “There’s definitely a place for us in this market.”
Led by energetic and outspoken President Luke Wood, the school committed $23 million to join the Mid-American Conference, with $6 million already paid this year and $3 million annually through 2030. The cost included $5 million to the NCAA for a transition fee.
Where are the funds coming from? Orr said a combination of donors and corporate partnerships. No state or student funding was used for the move.
“This was not a situation where one person wrote a big check,” Orr said. “We used a multitude of revenues.”
There was an FBS opening and Sac State grabbed it, and the school took heat across the country in the way it went about it. It was almost opposite of NDSU, which announced its FBS move and the Mountain West Conference two weeks before Sac State did.
NDSU and its 10 FCS national championships made it easier from a public relations standpoint. Sac State and its up and down success in FCS and an aging football stadium did not.
Mark Orr, Director of Athletics for Sacramento State, talks about the move to FBS on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Sacramento, California.
David Samson / The Forum
“There’s a lot of skepticism whether or not we can accomplish going FBS,” Orr said. “It’s not easy and I think the misnomer out there — going FBS is not a sign-up. You just can’t sign up and be FBS. You have to be invited by a conference. We feel over the long haul it’s going to be a worthwhile investment.”
The Hornets for a time tried to go the FBS independent route, but the NCAA had other ideas. Then the MAC came to the rescue and that came at another cost: Sac State is paying the air fare for every visiting league team. Not only that, the agreement is for five years, meaning the MAC could cut the Hornets loose.
“Who knows what it looks like after five years,” Orr said. “I think our initial thought was let’s go five years and it was mutual (between the school and the conference). Let’s go five years and who knows, it can be extended and who knows what the NCAA looks like after five years. We felt five years was a good starting place for us with the MAC.”
Orr said an announcement is expected in the coming months for further clarification on building a new stadium, with a decision yet to be made whether it will be on or off campus. It’s all part of a university movement that includes a new science building, new engineering building, a Black Honors College and new residence halls.
The school recently moved into a Research 2 category, which puts it in a higher academic standing across the country. NDSU is a Research 1 university, which numbered 187 in 2025. Like former NDSU president Joe Chapman championed when the Bison made the Division I move in 2004, Orr said his president likens football to the front porch.
“To draw into the community and expose Sacramento State to a raw audience,” Orr said.
It didn’t come cheap. All involved with the move are fine with that.
Jeff Kolpack, the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. He has covered all 10 of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written four books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough,” “Covid Kids” and “They Caught Them Sleeping: How Dot Reinvented the Pretzel.” He is also the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.