Sacramento State is attempting to move to the FBS as an independent team beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. If the waiver is approved by the NCAA, Sacramento State will remain a Big Sky team for the 2025 season. The Hornets would be ineligible for the postseason in the 2025 and 2026 seasons as part of the two-year reclassification process.
Sacramento State has been angling for a new conference, including plans to build a new football stadium with a capacity of 25,000. It is not known which conference the school will ultimately join.
Sacramento State joined the FCS in 1993 (then known as I-AA) as a member of the now-defunct American West Conference. The American West lasted three seasons from 1993 through 1995 with the Hornets winning the final conference football title. The Hornets joined the Big Sky the following season in 1996 but had little success in the first two decades in their new home.
The school didn’t make the FCS playoffs until 2019 when Troy Taylor led the Hornets to a share of the Big Sky title. In 2021 and 2022, Taylor led Sacramento State to back-to-back Big Sky championships going undefeated in conference play both years. Sacramento State shared the 2022 title with Montana State as the Bobcats also went 8-0 in the Big Sky. In Taylor’s three seasons, the Hornets went 30-8 overall, 23-1 in the Big Sky, and made three FCS playoff appearances including the epic 66-63 quarterfinal loss to Incarnate Word.
Taylor left for Stanford in 2022 following the amazing success but that didn’t stop the program’s momentum. Andy Thompson took over for the 2023 season, leading the Hornets to a win over Taylor’s Stanford squad and third straight FCS playoff appearance. The Hornets won their first-round playoff game against North Dakota before falling to South Dakota in the second round. Sacramento State went 3-9 overall and 1-7 in the Big Sky during the 2024 season and Thompson left to join Stanford as an assistant. Brennan Marrion was hired as head coach in December after two seasons as UNLV’s offensive coordinator.
Photo Credit to Sacramento State Athletics
