Sac St Football in 2026-2027

[Kadeezy]

Honest look back and ahead from the State Hornet:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1996328931721711727

 

[the Rat]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2001028559012573309

 

[the Rat]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2001028559012573309

 

[oldrunner]

WOW, and they are all high major FBS teams to boot. I'm sure the next 7 teams will be SEC and Big10. It's amazing what can be done with 25 million extra in the bank. I'm sure that getting all of those FBS teams to come to Sac, must have cost a small fortune. I see an undefeated season and an invite to the FBS playoffs coming up.

 

[the Rat]

Enjoy your high school coach and those family rivalry games with SUU and Dixie State.

 

[Kadeezy]

I really enjoyed ChatGPT's expectations of this year, hard to argue!

2026 Season​

“Transition Turbulence” Phase

Most Likely Status

• Division: FCS (Big Sky replacement scheduling / quasi-independent feel)
• Conference: Big West (non-football), football effectively homeless
• Record Range: 5–7 to 7–5
• Head Coach: New hire, short leash
• Facilities: Incremental upgrades only

Reality Check

• This is the most unstable year in program history.
• Recruiting suffers due to uncertainty.
• Schedule quality is uneven: some FCS rivals, some FBS money games.
• Attendance dips slightly due to confusion and frustration.

What This Year Really Is

• A proof-of-life season, not a growth season.
• Administration is still selling a future that has not materialized yet.

Key Risk

• Coaching churn.
• NIL gaps versus true FBS programs.

Key Win Condition

• Staying competitive and avoiding public embarrassment against FBS opponents.

 

[OldSchoolHornet]

Interesting perspectives. All of them seem reasonable and some of them are extremely likely. I’m certainly hoping the year goes much better.

 

[HornetFootballFan]

I've always thought an unwritten gentleman's agreement was reached. The Big Sky took in Davis and Poly football, and the Big West left Sac State alone. There is nothing official substantiating this, but it would explain why the status quo lasted for 15 years. Look at what former Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton said.

Big Sky Adds Cal Poly, UC Davis to Football Lineup

The Big Sky Conference is proud to announce that the University of California, Davis and Cal Poly have accepted invitations to join the league as affiliate members in the sport of football.

bigskyconf.com

“We worked in cooperation with Big West Conference Commissioner Dennis Farrell,’’ Fullerton added. “The Big West fully supports this effort, as it gives its two football-playing members a home.’’

Kinda makes the unofficial understanding between two conferences plausible. The "gentleman's agreement" only ended when the MWC added Davis.

That was at our expense..

 

[StockonLB]

Had the WAC moved to FCS football sooner, maybe they would have survived with Poly and Davis and the southwest/Texas schools. The Great West conference was nice, but needed the Dakota schools to anchor it. NCAA conferences growing larger for stability with fewer out of conference games made Poly and Davis great fits for Big Sky football only at the time.

Did that benefit Sac? Not really, besides making scheduling easier. The other option would have been for another FCS western conference to have survived with an auto bid by WAC almost had it, but too late. Sac would most likely have to join the WAC or fading Great West, both of which are gone.

Big Sky has become one of two strongest FCS conferences, at least for football. Davis leaving hurts that right now (though seems inevitable). sac joining Big West will be fine if football is figured out. Big West is stable enough with recent additions, no more gentleman’s agreements needed.