Sacramento State has been in the headlines over the last few months. To say the future of the Sacramento State Hornets football program is up in the air would be the understatement of the century. Now, if it’s up to the NCAA Oversight Committee, the program will stay right where it is in the Football Championship Subdivision, as per Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.
Nine months ago, the SAC12 Committee was formed to get the Hornets into the PAC-12. It now seems that the NCAA Oversight Committee is recommending that the D1 Council not support Sacramento State’s waiver request seeking to transition to the FBS.
Sacramento State’s FBS Dream Stalls as NCAA Panel Delivers A Brutal Verdict
Two months ago, Sacramento State applied for a waiver to transition to an FBS independent. The Hornets figured that this would be their next step after their current spot in the FCS.
The NCAA Division I Council will meet next week. According to Dellenger’s X handle, the “NCAA Football Oversight Committee is providing to the DI Council a recommendation not to support the waiver request from Sacramento State seeking to transition to FBS.”
Ultimately, the council has the final decision on the matter.
“Sacramento State, if the waiver is granted, intends to move into FBS as an independent. Transitioning schools are normally required to hold an invitation from an FBS conference – a reason a waiver is necessary,” Dellenger added.
NCAA Football Oversight Committee is providing to the DI Council a recommendation not to support the waiver request from Sacramento State seeking to transition to FBS, sources tell @YahooSports.
The authority to grant the waiver still remains at the DI Council’s discretion.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) June 16, 2025
If the waiver is denied, the Hornets would hope for an invite from the Mountain West Conference or the Pac-12 Conference somewhere down the line. However, things are looking bleak for Sacramento State. There could be a number of reasons why the Oversight Committee didn’t approve the recommendation. One could be that the Hornets want to be an FBS Independent as opposed to being invited by a current FBS conference.
However, financials could also play a big role in this decision. The fact that the Sacramento State athletic department is facing a large deficit could hurt the team in the long run. They are currently trying to find a way to increase their athletic spending.
With so much still up in the air, we don’t know what will happen with Sacramento State. Best case scenario, they get invited into the FBS, worst case is they get rejected and it’s back to their normal for them. Stay tuned for more updates.
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