Sacramento State joined the FBS party with North Dakota State last week, and Sac State school president Luke Wood has a clear, strong message for his old colleagues.
“To all other high-level FCS programs: Make the move and make the move now,” Wood told The Big Mountain podcast on Feb. 24
Both Sac State and NDSU left the FCS behind in February after successful runs in college football’s second tier. NDSU produced an unprecedented run of 10 national championships in 15 years, and the Hornets made four FCS playoff appearances between 2019 and 2023.
While the Bison looked overdue for years with the on-field success, the Hornets avoided the trend that Wood sees for fellow top FCS programs. It’s only getting more expensive and therefore harder to move up from the FCS to the FBS.
“There are some great FCS programs that are at an FBS level already … the window is going to close. The door is going to get shut,” Wood said. “The time to go is now.”
Moving Up Now Costs Millions
NDSU paid the Mountain West Conference $12.5 million for membership plus NCAA’s $5 million fee to join the FBS. Sac State paid the Mid-American Conference $18 million to join in addition to the $5 million NCAA fee.
“Just remember, it used to be $5,000 for the transition fee,” Wood said. “It’s now $5 million for the transition fee. The cost of doing business will only go up, and there will be a time in five years where people will look back at us and North Dakota State and say, ‘Wow, they were so smart to go then and what a deal they got.’”
“I can’t say that it’s not an expensive enterprise. It is,” Wood added. “But it costs money to do good, to make money, to elevate your brand, develop your institution and say you are an FBS program.”
FCS Teams to FBS Could Keep Growing
Top FCS teams moving to the FBS has been a growing trend for years, with James Madison, Delaware, Sam Houston, Jacksonville State, Missouri State, and Kennesaw State all making the move between 2022 and 2025. Most of those teams have enjoyed success already at the FBS level, and that culminated with JMU making the College Football Playoff in 2025.
“If you’re one of those programs and you look at the benefit of what us and North Dakota State are going to experience and and you’re saying to yourself, ‘Why is my school not doing the same thing?’ It’s time to do it, it’s time to do it right now because it’s only going to get more expensive,” Wood said.
For some of the aforementioned teams, a bowl game with more exposure and revenue are the benefits. NDSU and JMU, once rivals at the top of the FCS in the late 2010s might be the only two former FCS teams to make a push for winning in the CFP.
Other top FCS programs that could join the FBS include familiar rivals for both NDSU and Sac State. Former FCS national champions Montana, Montana State, and South Dakota State are frequently mentioned as possible FBS candidates, and all three would fit in the Mountain West footprint.
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