Sac State football’s quest for FBS collides with NCAA’s power grab | Opinion

Sacramento State’s stalled attempt to join the Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of competition in college football, appeared to be a failed Hail Mary pass by a team down a touchdown and 80 yards away from the end zone.

With no official plans to build a stadium or the scholarships needed to entice players, the NCAA's rejection of Sac State’s underdog ambitions seemed sound.

But if you take a deeper look into what the NCAA is trying to accomplish and the current landscape of college football, is Sac State is right for asking, “why not us?”

Sac State’s push to be in FBS is caught in the middle of the NCAA’s quest for more control of the college football landscape. Since student-athletes began profiting from their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals in 2021, the NCAA, which governs over 1,100 colleges and universities, has been trying to install guardrails to keep the FBS from becoming professional minor league football.

The NCAA’s desire for more control

On July 23, two U.S. House of Representatives committees voted to pass some NCAA-friendly legislation, the SCORE Act (Student Compensation And Opportunity Through Rights and Endorsements). The bill now heads to the House and Senate for a vote.

The proposed legislation would prevent athletes from being identified as employees, stopping them from being able to unionize and collectively bargain their compensation and rights. It would officially end most administrative restrictions on how student athletes are independently compensated from private sources for their NIL deals. But it would allow schools and conferences to establish what is and isn’t permissible. It also overrides current NIL state laws.

Of interest to Sac State, the legislation would protect the NCAA from federal antitrust laws, giving it the ability to make operational rules affecting schools and athletes in areas that have come into legal dispute in recent years. Sac State is now appealing the NCAA’s decision against waiving its admission requirements to the top football conference. This legislation opens the door to allowing the NCAA to potentially eliminate any appeals process whatsoever.

But then there’s the obvious. Sac State could play by the rules and wait for an invitation from a conference to get into the FBS. Well, the only viable conference for them is the Mountain West Conference. Yet, it seems that the Mountain West have put a pause on their expansion.

In an episode of the Big Mountain Podcast, Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez talked about the future of the conference, which won’t have expansion as a major priority.

“I wouldn’t say we’re never gonna expand, but right now that’s just not the top focus,” Nevarez said during the interview.

It sounds like the NCAA has made it clear that recruiting teams like Sac State from the lower tier Football Championship Subdivision is not wise.

“We stayed away from FCS in this round of expansion just because of the political headwinds,” she said. “There’s a lot of consternation about expanding the number of FBS schools that are currently in the subdivision, fear of watering down both the revenue and the competition.”

So between pending legislation that could prevent an appeal and conferences putting a pause on expansion, Sac State is currently in a pickle. The university needs a little patience. It is a school in a great city with some good energy around their college athletics.

Sac State has a case

The university may not have every box checked, but they have shown that sports will be a focal point in their attempt to create a culture amongst the student body and to recruit new students. That should mean something. And let’s not forget their football was named first in recruitment by Hero Sports this year and has recently won three Big Sky Conference Championships.

What doesn’t make any sense to me is how UC Davis, Sac State’s longtime rival, was able to receive an invitation to the Mountain West Conference in every sport but football. A big factor into them getting into the conference was the Sacramento market. How can that not be enough for Sac State?

The NCAA is creating a system that will make it harder for FCS teams to get into the FBS. But there will be more schools like Sac State who know they are ready for the next step.

Sac State’s time is coming. It is likely not this year.

This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 5:00 AM.