MAC adding Sacramento State football in another conference realignment

Middle America is looking mighty big these days.

The MAC, one of the preeminent non-Power Four conferences in college football, is on the cusp adding the West Coast’s Sacramento State as a football member in 2026, according to sources reported by ESPN. It’s a somewhat baffling move geographically, as Sacramento State would essentially occupy a spot previously held by the Northern Illinois Huskies, who moved to the Mountain West.

Of course, geography is a mere suggestion — and a tepid one at that — in the age of college football realignment. The most common example people point to is Cal and Stanford joining the ACC as literal Pacific Coast schools.

Per reports, Sacramento State is expected to pay $23 million to make the move. The Hornets will pay $18 million to the MAC and another $5 million to the NCAA to make the jump from the FCS level, where they have been since 1993. Sacramento State has been aggressively pursuing this move recently, having made four FCS playoff appearances since 2019. The Hornets made the postseason in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023, with all of those appearances except 2023 coming as Big Sky conference champions.

The closest school to Sacramento State in the conference will be Western Michigan, 2,177 miles by car. Should Sacramento State make this jump, it would be ineligible for the postseason for two seasons.

Sacramento State went 7-5 (5-3 Big Sky) last season, and will have a new coach this year in Alonzo Carter. It joins Big Sky powerhouse North Dakota State as the most recent teams to move to new conferences for football, with the Bison moving up to the Mountain West.