Sac State and UC Davis football each get national TV games in 2025. How many?
The Sacramento State and UC Davis football teams are preseason ranked in the Top 25 in the FCS in a media poll compiled by HERO Sports, and the decades-long Causeway Classic rivals will be on national television a combined four times.
All of the games for each program will again be carried on the streaming ESPN+ platform, according to college football TV schedules released this past week.
Coming off of its finest season in its 20 years at the FCS level and impressing in 2025 spring drills, UCD is preseason-ranked No. 11 by HERO Sports with Sacramento State and Mercer tied for 12th.
Longtime powerhouse North Dakota State is the preseason No. 1 team, having won its 10th FCS championship last season in 14 years and 18th national crown overall.
Ranked second by HERO Sports is a Montana State program that competes against UCD and Sacramento State in the Big Sky Conference and played for the national championship last season.
South Dakota State is ranked third, which is where the team finished last season in the rankings after falling to North Dakota State 28-21 in an FCS semifinal playoff.
Under new coach Brennan Marion and with a transfer portal haul of nearly 60 players, Sacramento State opens its season at South Dakota State on Aug. 30. The Hornets are coming off of a three-win season after winning three Big Sky Conference championships since 2019.
Sacramento State’s game on Friday, Oct. 24, against Montana at Hornet Stadium will be carried on ESPN2.
UCD, fresh off of a 10-2 season under first-year coach Tim Plough, has three nationally televised games, the most ever for the program, which started in 1915.
UCD’s opener is at No. 12 Mercer in Montgomery, Alabama, on Aug. 23. UCD’s game at Washington in Seattle on Sept. 6 will carried on the BIG10 Network, and the Big Sky Conference game at Bozeman to face Montana State on Nov. 15 will be on an ESPN linear network.
UCD’s game at Montana in Missoula last season was carried on ESPN2, marking the first time the Aggies had been on a linear ESPN network.
UCD will host Sacramento State in the annual Causeway Classic on Nov. 22.
HERO Sports preseason FCS Top 25
1. North Dakota State
2. Montana State
3. South Dakota State
4. South Dakota
5. Incarnate Word
6. Tarleton State
t7. Illinois State
t7. Montana
9. Rhode Island
10. Idaho
11. UC Davis
T-12. Mercer
T-12. Sacramento State
14. Villanova
15. Jackson State
16. Southern Illinois
17. Lehigh
18. Western Carolina
19. Northern Arizona
20. Tennessee Tech
t21. Monmouth
t21. Stephen F. Austin
23. Harvard
24. Abilene Christian
25. Stony Brook
This story was originally published May 31, 2025 at 11:18 AM.