McFeely: FBS or bust for Sacramento State , an idea NDSU should ignore — for now

FARGO "FBS or bust." Those words were posted on the X account of Sacramento State President Luke Wood last month.

The Football Championship Subdivision school, a regular playoff participant from 2019-2023 when the Hornets won the Big Sky Conference three times, has made no secret of its desire to move up a level to the Football Bowl Subdivision and join the reborn Pac-12 Conference.

Wood has openly campaigned for an invitation, touting millions of dollars allegedly pledged for name, image and likeness while spearheading the formation of the Sac 12 Committee, a group of Sacramento leaders dedicated to getting the school to the Pac-12.

It hasn't happened.

Nor is it likely to happen.

Multiple media outlets have reported the Pac-12 has no interest in adding an FCS school generally and Sac State specifically.

The Hornets find themselves in the same boat as North Dakota State when the Bison were in the conversation for an invitation to the Mountain West Conference the FCS label is a millstone.

FBS leagues even those as depleted as the Pac-12 and Mountain West don't want to "lower" themselves by adding FCS programs.

Even those like NDSU that would add more football value than most mid-major FBS schools.

Some in the Mountain West favored adding NDSU, but in the end the presidents demanded an FBS addition.

Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference got the nod.

So Sac State might go rogue.

The belief among some in FCS, and reported by Sam Herder of HERO Sports, is that Sacramento State will exhaust every option to get an FBS conference invitation and if it doesn't, it will go FBS independent in 2026.

An announcement is expected soon, by late winter or early spring.

There are few things in college sports more risky than playing as an FBS independent, which is why there will be only two such programs in 2025 Notre Dame and Connecticut.

And Notre Dame doesn't really count.

It's Notre Dame.

For every other FBS indy ...

good luck.

No conference schedule to assure eight games a season.

The need to cobble together a 12-game schedule every year.

No guaranteed TV money.

No guaranteed access to bowl games or the College Football Playoffs.

Nothing really.

Except the FBS label.

Which is exactly what Sac State seeks.

One FCS source told me he believes Sacramento State's motivation to take the risk is to shed the FCS name in hopes of getting invited to the Pac-12.

If the conference only will take FBS schools, then become an FBS school.

"It's a huge gamble," the source said.

"A huge gamble." Sac State's dalliance with FBS is odd.

All the push and chatter is coming from Wood, the president, while athletic director Mark Orr is relegated to the background.

And it's coming at a time when the school and all California public universities are being mandated to make massive cuts.

Sac State has to slash its budget by $45 million.

Wood says the cut is the reason for the "FBS or bust" mentality.

"When Universities make the transition to FBS, they experience many benefits.

One of those benefits is an increase in out-of-state applications, usually somewhere between a 20-30% increase," the president said in an X post.

"Out of state students pay a higher rate because their families have not paid into the California tax system.

That means more resources for the campus to hire faculty, open courses, give scholarships, and resource the student experience.

An investment in football is an investment in ENROLLMENT.

This is especially critical in budget times such as these." Good luck.

The obvious question in Fargo, then, is whether NDSU should take the same tact.

The school and its athletic program are interested in moving up to FBS and, I've been told, aggressively pursued discussions with the Mountain West when it was apparent there was some interest.

And regular readers know where I stand on NDSU moving to an FBS league.

Get there.

Yesterday.

If FBS leagues want to add FBS programs, should the Bison go independent to make themselves more attractive? For now, no.

It's not a risk worth taking at this point.

If NDSU was to declare itself an FBS independent and then not get in a new conference in three, five or 10 years ...

it would be an unmitigated disaster for the current FCS powerhouse.

For now, it's better to stay in the depleted FCS landscape and hope continued conference realignment shakes open a spot in the Mountain West, Pac-12, Conference USA or American Athletic Conference.

There's a chance the Pac-12 poaches UNLV and Nevada from the Mountain West in the coming months, which would open spots for additions to the MWC.

Would the league then be desperate enough to seriously consider NDSU? Let's hope so.

Standing pat is still a much better risk than going independent in FBS.

But if we're having the same debate in 2028 and the Bison are still stuck in FCS, it might be time for a different answer.

Then it might be time for FBS or bust in north Fargo..

This article has been shared from the original article on inforum, here is the link to the original article.