Pac-12 expansion candidates: Sacramento State Hornets

The rebuilt Pac-12 has eight members signed up for the 2026-27 athletics season: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Washington State and Utah State.
The conference must attract at least one more football-playing member before 2026 to reach the NCAA’s eight-team minimum to qualify as an FBS conference. Gonzaga does not have a football program.
The Pac-12, which poached five teams from the Mountain West and Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference, is expected to add between one and six additional members in the coming weeks and months.
As conference realignment wages on, Boise State Broncos on SI is taking a look at schools that have been linked to the Pac-12 in various reports.
We have already covered the Memphis Tigers, North Texas Mean Green and Rice Owls and will now dig into a divisive candidate: the Sacramento State Hornets.
California State University, Sacramento
Location: Sacramento, California
Current conference: Big Sky Conference (FCS)
Enrollment: 31,451
Endowment: $92.991 million
Athletics budget: $35,004,647
Football stadium: Hornet Stadium (21,195 capacity)
Basketball arena: The Nest (1,012 capacity)
The case for Sacramento State
Sacramento boasts a metro population of 2.4 million, a top-30 market in the United States.
And unlike some of its peers, Sacramento is not oversaturated with college and professional sports options. The city has one Big Four pro franchise (the NBA’s Kings) and a popular Triple-A baseball team in the Sacramento River Cats, but the Hornets could potentially become a Northern California college athletics giant.
Sacramento State athletic director Mark Orr has lofty goals for the school. Back in September, Sacramento State announced plans to build a state-of-the-art, 25,000-seat football stadium. Orr made a big splash in December by hiring UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion to be the Hornets’ new head coach.
There is also the Sac 12 committee, a group of Sacramento dignitaries and notable alumni who are aiming to secure $75 million in NIL funds. In October, the Sac 12 announced that they had already raised north of $50 million to be spent over a 10-year period.
Sacramento State broke ground on a new basketball arena in October that is expected to be completed in time for the 2025-26 season.
The case against Sacramento State
While Sacramento State and the Sac 12 have talked a big game, specific details of the school’s athletics overhaul are sparse.
The Hornets remain in the early stages of fundraising for a new football stadium. The Sac 12’s NIL claims are a complete unknown.
On the football field, Sacramento State has largely struggled since joining the Big Sky in 1996. The Hornets did have brief success under head coach Troy Taylor (conference titles in 2019, 2021 and 2022), who is now at Stanford. Sacramento State went a combined 11-14 the last two years and will look to rebound with Marion at the helm.
There is another major hurdle involved with Sacramento State: the NCAA’s eight-team minimum rule. Jumping from FCS to FBS comes with a two-year postseason ban, which would prevent the Hornets from counting as a full Pac-12 member until 2027.
If the Pac-12 added Sacramento State, the conference would still be one football member short for the 2026 season.
Verdict
Sacramento State could be an intriguing Pac-12 expansion candidate … in 2030.
To get on the Pac-12’s radar, the Hornets first need to show proof of concept. Get the new football facility built, make the FBS jump to the Mountain West or Conference USA and use the SAC 12 NIL funds to win on the field.
There is no doubt that Sacramento State could be a sleeping giant. But the Hornets have a long way to go to earn a Pac-12 invitation.
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