Along with those four matchups, Sacramento State will play an eight-game schedule in the Mid-American Conference.<\/p>\n
SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 The Sacramento State<\/a> Hornets will face two Mountain West Conference opponents and one from the Pac-12 as part of their four non-conference games during the 2026 season, the program announced Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sacramento State will play Fresno State Bulldogs, North Dakota State Bison and Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, along with FCS member Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils, during the program\u2019s first season at the FBS level.<\/p>\n Along with those four matchups, Sacramento State<\/a> will play an eight-game schedule in the Mid-American Conference<\/a> (MAC). The conference games will be announced later.<\/p>\n The Hornets open their non-conference schedule Sept. 5 at home against Mississippi Valley State, marking the first meeting between the programs. The Delta Devils finished 2-10 in 2025. Mississippi Valley State is a member of the SWAC and Jerry Rice among its most notable football alumni.<\/p>\n Sacramento State then travels south to face Fresno State on Sept. 12, marking the sixth meeting in school history. After playing just once between 1954 and 2006, the programs have met three times in the last 11 years and will meet again for the second time in three seasons.<\/p>\n The Bulldogs went 9-4 in head coach Matt Entz\u2019s first season in 2025, a year that included a win over Miami (Ohio) in the Arizona Bowl.<\/p>\n The Hornets return home Sept. 19 to face North Dakota State. Like Sacramento State, the Bison will be playing their first season as an FBS member following a dominant run at the FCS level.<\/p>\n The programs never met while both competed in the FCS but did face each other in the 1988 Division II playoffs in Fargo. The Sept. 19 matchup will begin a home-and-home series that will send Sacramento State to North Dakota State in 2027.<\/p>\n Sacramento State\u2019s final game of the 2026 season is scheduled for Nov. 28 at Hawaii. The Hornets have never faced the Warriors in football.<\/p>\n Hawaii, coached by Timmy Chang, finished the 2025 season with a 9-4 record, including a win over California in the Sheraton Hawai\u2018i Bowl.<\/p>\n The Hornets are making the leap to FBS after the (MAC) voted to formally add<\/a> Sac State as a football-only member starting in 2026. The total cost of joining the MAC is $23 million for Sac State, the university will pay an $18 million entrance fee to the MAC and would need an additional $5 million to the NCAA.<\/p>\n The football program left the Big Sky Conference following the 2025 season. The university will compete in the Big West Conference in other sports beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.\u00a0<\/p>\n