Sacramento State's bid join FBS was dealt a fatal blow on Tuesday when the Division I Council voted to deny the school's waiver request to join the NCAA's top division without a conference. Or was it?

In a message posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Sac State president Dr. Luke Wood vowed that not only will the Hornets play FBS football, they'll do it in 2026. He claimed Sacramento State met every "meaningful" benchmark to make the move.

"Sacramento State has met every meaningful benchmark for FBS membership, and we believe our university, our students, and the entire Sacramento region deserve major college football. We’re full steam ahead and we still plan to be playing FBS football in 2026," Wood tweeted.

Sacramento State has met every meaningful benchmark for FBS membership, and we believe our university, our students, and the entire Sacramento region deserve major college football. We’re full steam ahead and we still plan to be playing FBS football in 2026. pic.twitter.com/NoEcQ7EmyG
— Dr. Luke Wood (@DrLukeWood) June 25, 2025

If the Pac-12 or Mountain West was going to invite the Hornets, they would have done so by now. Therefore, I have no idea how Sac State plans to build an FBS independent schedule to begin barely more than one year from now, but I'll be fascinated to see them try.

Thursday Update: Sacramento State is hiring anti-NCAA super-lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel. No lawsuit has been hired at this time, but Thamel reports Kessler is "exploring legal avenues."

The crux of the issue, from our non-lawyer chair, is that the NCAA's FBS Oversight Committee allowed Liberty to join without a conference invitation in 2017 but is not letting Sac State do the same eight years later.

"Although a waiver of the bona fide invitation requirement was granted in 2017, that decision was made in a different era, under a different set of facts and rules," the Committee said last week.

We'll see if that's the angle Kessler chooses to pursue if he brings forth a lawsuit.

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