Sacramento State’s tried fast-tracked climb to the FBS has been slowed. The NCAA Division I Council voted Tuesday to disclaim the varsity’s waiver request to maneuver up from the FCS degree and not using a formal convention invitation, in accordance with Yahoo Sports activities’ Ross Dellenger. The vote will turn out to be official as soon as conferences conclude Wednesday.
The Hornets beforehand knowledgeable the Large Sky final week they would depart the league by June 30, 2026 and introduced a transition to the Large West for non-football sports activities starting July 1, 2026. That leaves the soccer program and not using a house, dealing with the potential for competing as an FCS unbiased subsequent season whereas the varsity continues to hunt an FBS invitation.
The NCAA’s determination hinges on its “bona fide invitation” rule, which requires faculties to safe an official supply from an FBS convention earlier than reclassifying. Sacramento State, for now, lacks one. The FBS Oversight Committee beneficial denying the waiver earlier this month.
Sacramento State withdraws from Large Sky as Hornets transfer ahead with dangerous wager on future FBS soccer success
Cameron Salerno
The choice marks a pointy distinction from 2017, when Liberty was granted an analogous waiver and allowed to compete as an FBS unbiased for 5 years earlier than becoming a member of Convention USA. Sacramento State had pointed to that precedent in its request, however NCAA officers emphasised how a lot the school soccer panorama has shifted within the years since.
“Though a waiver of the bona fide invitation requirement was granted in 2017, that call was made in a special period, beneath a special set of details and guidelines,” the committee wrote in its denial advice. “The Division I membership adopted the present laws to affirm the significance of the character and function of the subdivision reclassification course of, selecting to put that decision-making authority with the council.”
The ruling initiatives to considerably affect Sacramento State’s realignment timeline. And not using a waiver or a convention invite, the Hornets face uncertainty about the place and the way their soccer program will compete within the close to future.
The denial additionally offers a blow to Sacramento State’s long-term aspirations. A gaggle of boosters shaped the “Sac12” final 12 months, aiming to place the varsity for a future Pac-12 invite. Their targets embrace elevating $50 million in NIL funding, constructing new stadiums, and securing realignment charges. With no FBS convention invitation and their waiver denied, Sacramento State’s bold climb is now caught in limbo — forcing the college to recalibrate its subsequent steps in an more and more aggressive school soccer panorama.
