Sac State learned the hard way that moving up in the NCAA is about money | Opinion
Sacramento State President Luke Wood has made elevating his football program to the upper echelon of college his top priority. He believes that athletic glory will lift Sac State and bolster enrollment. Wood has deployed billboards heralding the arrival of Sac State football. The university has gotten a lot of buzz on social media for football and basketball.
But so far, Wood has been rejected by the NCAA. The local university unsuccessfully asked the NCAA for a waiver to allow the Hornets into the company of big boys despite not having been invited to the party by a major conference.
Wood is full of enthusiasm and hope, but the NCAA does not play around. It’s not hard to see what the problem is.
Nearly a year after announcing it, there is still no stadium plan to create a football facility that would make Sac State more appealing to the NCAA. Despite there being no known plan or money for the plan, Wood is moving the Hornets out of the Big Sky Conference.
Wood believes it’s inevitable that the Hornets will be in the Football Bowl Subdivision, where all the biggest college football programs reside. In recent years, but not last year, Sac State was a powerhouse in the Football Championship Subdivision, the second tier of college football.
“I believe that we’re FBS ready,” Wood said in an interview with me. “We plan on playing on the FBS in 2026.”
Wood and Athletic Director Mark Orr’s quest for the highest level of college football is commendable. It’s not an easy journey to take.
Path to FBS is a hard road
But the NCAA has devised a clear path for a football program like Sac State to make it to the big leagues. It first needs to receive an invitation to join one of the existing conferences that play at the FBS level. Then Sac State would need to pay that $5 million application nonrefundable fee to the NCAA in the hopes that the association says yes.
The Hornets, to date, have been like a lonely bride at the altar, wanting an invitation to the Mountain West or Pac-12 conference, yet still waiting for that suitor to come along.
An FBS committee denied Sacramento State entry into the FBS. It’s hard not to understand why, as they do not have a public stadium plan or scholarships in place.
Wood, undaunted by the rejection, believes his institution can be a beacon for this community, allowing others to see Sacramento as a great place to be. But college football needs more than just a guy who has belief. They need to see the money and the resources that you are willing to put into your program. Right now, the university has little to show.
Also, the FBS hasn’t seen much potential in expanding West Coast football. The last college football team on this side of the country to be allowed into the FBS was Boise State nearly 30 years ago in 1996. The last California program to be let in was San Jose State in 1993.
Sac State has to prove itself on the field consistently before the NCAA takes it seriously.
There is no harm in waiting one or two seasons before trying again to make it into the FBS.
The university needs help. It can’t do this alone. They just went through a budget deficit that resulted in layoffs.
It is not far-fetched to say that Sac State will need financial help from the well-connected of Sacramento to make it to the big time.
Moving up in the NCAA is about money. The quest to get to the FBS is not a viable option without it.
An earlier version of this column misstated why Sacramento State sought a waiver from the NCAA. The waiver was requested because the Hornets were not invited to move into the FBS by a major conference.
This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
