The Mid-American Conference was the last of the 10 in the highest-level Football Bowl Subdivision to release its schedule, posting it on Tuesday morning as Sacramento State bounds into a new era.
After 29 seasons in the Big Sky Conference in the lower-level Football Championship Subdivision, the Hornets will kick off the 2026 campaign with a new coach in Alonzo Carter, a new staff, more than 50 new players and a lot of renewed hope with a contest at Eastern Michigan on Aug. 29. The Hornets are in the midst of spring drills.
That opener will mark the first time since Sac State started playing football in 1954 that the Hornets will face a MAC opponent. Sac State will have three of its eight MAC games in what the conference likes to call “MACtion” — games that do not fall on a traditional college football Saturday.
Sac State on Friday, Oct. 30, will host Kent State, then the Hornets on Wednesday, Nov. 4, will host Toledo. Their final midweek game will be at Central Michigan on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
The midweek games have become a staple on ESPN, and that exposure played a part in Sac State’s mutual interest with the MAC, which features teams from the Michigan, Illinois and on the East Coast. The MAC started football play in 1947, and Sacramento State gives the conference its first reach into California.
Game times and national TV dates will be announced at a later date.
Sac State is the first West Coast college football team to move from the FCS to the FBS — known for decades as Division I-A and Division I-AA — since Fresno State and San Diego State in 1969. The Hornets looked into joining the revamped Pac-12 and the Mountain West Conference before the MAC tendered an invitation.
Sac State signed a five-year deal to joint the MAC for football while all other sports will late this summer join the California-heavy Big West Conference. The price tag to move up in classification is not cheap, a fee of more than $20 million.
2026 Sacramento State schedule
Saturday, Aug. 29 – at Eastern Michigan*
Saturday, Sept. 5 – MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE
Saturday, Sept. 12 – at Fresno State
Saturday, Sept. 19 – NORTH DAKOTA STATE
Saturday, Sept. 26 – UMASS*
Saturday, Oct. 10 – at Bowling Green*
Saturday, Oct. 17 – OHIO*
Saturday, Oct. 24 – at Ball State*
Friday, Oct. 30 – KENT STATE*
Wednesday, Nov. 4 – TOLEDO*
Wednesday, Nov. 11 – at Central Michigan*
Saturday, Nov. 28 – at Hawaii
*MAC games
This story was originally published March 24, 2026 at 9:25 AM.
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Joe Davidson has covered sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1989: preps, colleges, Kings and features. He was in early 2024 named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California and he was in the fall of 2024 inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association. In 2021, he was honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award. He is a member of the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Davidson participated in football and track in Oregon.