Unpacking Sacramento State’s MAC pact plus spring football dates, staff moves, CMU adding future games
The MAC is adding a West Coast outpost, and making a cool $18 million in the process.
So, Sacramento State football is going to be in the MAC.
It’s the latest (and perhaps weirdest) turn in the recent surge of college football conference realignment, with the Mid-American adding a West Coast outpost to become a coast-to-coast football league, with UMass also a MAC member. Northern Illinois is also leaving to join the Mountain West, just to cover all the bases.
The move is also not as cut-and-dry as “MAC adds new league member.”
The five-year deal, announced on Monday by both Sacramento State and the MAC, is in several ways more like a scheduling agreement, one that also gives the Hornets a shot at a league title each of the five seasons. It’s also a move exclusive to football.
To alleviate the travel burdens, each MAC team will travel west once every three seasons. This means the other 12 teams will all make the trip to Sacramento in the first three years, and a handful will make another trip in the fourth and fifth years. As part of the deal, Sacramento State is footing the costs for the West Coast travel, a move that is not without precedent.
Extra Points/NIL Wire’s Kyle Rowland reported on Wednesday that mid-week MACtion games on the West Coast will have a 4 or 5 p.m. local start time, meaning they’ll start during the regular 7 and 8 p.m. windows in the Eastern Time Zone.
Along with the $5 million fee to the NCAA to join an FBS league, Sacramento State is going to pay the MAC $18 million.
It’s been fairly evident for some time to those following that Sacramento State administration had become hellbent on getting a ticket punched to FBS football. In June 2025, the NCAA denied a waiver to allow the Hornets to jump to FBS as an independent in 2026, something required without a league invite.
Needing to find a league partner, the folks at Sacramento State also found their wallets, it seems.
Evidently, a jump to FBS, and all the heightened exposure that might come, is worth at least $23 million in up front costs, plus a lot of travel costs being absorbed. There will also be the associated cost of operating a successful football program at the FBS level. Sacramento State has shown a willingness to spend at that level.
The brass for the Hornets are selling a vision of bigger-time football elevating the university, even if some of the economic analysis they recently presented is, on its face, quite dubious.
As for the MAC, there are 18 million evident reasons to do this. But the league’s Kamp Krusty moment aside, it’s an ambitious move on the heels of UMass becoming a full member of the conference.
The MAC now goes coast-to-coast, and this addition more than UMass is a blow to the sense of regionality the league had preserved amidst increasingly less coherent geographic conferences in college athletics. Ambition is good, but it’s also why there’s a lot of dead bodies on Mt. Everest.
On the whole, Sacramento State signing up to play MAC football for the next five years is not something that makes a lot of sense outside of the current paradigm of college football, with money the ultimate cudgel. The Hornets should be competitive, as they’ve been a power in the Big Sky, but there are obviously no rivalries or many evident connections between MAC member schools and this new entrant. Outside of the administrators in Sacramento making this happen, no one clamored for the MAC to move west.
Sacramento State also isn’t the first school in recent years to make financial concessions to join a league that competes at a higher level, structurally or perceived. So it was just a matter of time before the Hornets found a dancing partner.
Sacramento State found one in the MAC, named the right price, and now it’s time to see if the Hornets can survive a quarter in Ypsi.
Read Mitten Football's post-portal roster reports
Before getting to other business, check out the first two stories in Mitten Football's pre-spring roster reports after the portal has wound down — informally the "who is on this team now?" series.
Andrew Graham
Andrew Graham
Now, to spring ball.
Spring football, game dates
Spring football is a month away now, and most of the Mitten’s FBS teams will be starting spring practice on or around St. Patrick’s Day.
Michigan, Central Michigan and Michigan State will all open on the holiday.
Eastern Michigan will start the day prior on March 16, and Western Michigan will be starting a week after the St. Patrick’s day trio, on March 24.
Spring practice opening date
- Eastern Michigan: Mar. 16 (Monday)
- Central Michigan: Mar. 17 (Tuesday)
- Michigan: Mar. 17
- Michigan State: Mar. 17
- Western Michigan: Mar. 24 (Tuesday)
Michigan State isn’t holding a spring game, per se, but is hosting a “spring showcase” on Saturday, April 18. Michigan will hold a spring game that same day, along with many other programs nationally playing spring games that day.
Eastern Michigan’s will be on Friday, April 17, with an athletic department used gear sale taking place around the event.
Central Michigan will also conclude spring practice around then, but a spring game date hasn’t been announced/confirmed.
Western Michigan will wrap up spring practice On April 25, the following Saturday.
Spring game/end of spring practices
- Central Michigan: TBD
- Eastern Michigan: Apr. 17 (Friday)
- Michigan: Apr. 18 (Saturday)
- Michigan State: April 18
- Western Michigan: April 25 (Saturday)
Keeping up on staff moves at Michigan, WMU
Michigan
The big news early this week has been the changing of the guard happening with Michigan’s player personnel staff, as covered in a number of reports.
Three big figures are out: General manager Sean Magee, director of player personnel Albert Karschnia, and recruiting director Sam Popper.
Popper is reportedly set to become San Diego State’s general manager.
On its face the exodus is concerning, and may have some bearing on 2027 quarterback commit Peter Bourque decommitting on Tuesday night. But it did come at a low-impact time in the calendar, a few weeks after signing day and early on enough in the 2027 recruit cycle still to not be a torpedo in Michigan’s efforts.
All in all, this reads as Kyle Whittingham moving on from a front office left behind by prior coaching regimes and getting — buzzword incoming — alignment with a new general manager and player personnel department.
The Wolverines also found a defensive line coach to replace Lou Esposito, bringing in Larry Black from Vanderbilt. The move got announced Wednesday evening.
Western Michigan
Western Michigan has seen a few more defensive staff tweaks, adding Furman DC Duane Vaughn as a co-defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach. With Greer Martini being promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator in the wake of Chris O’Leary’s departure, the Broncos now add another voice to lead the defense and ensure that the linebackers are getting coached up.
Vaughn also joins the staff as Sean Spence, the 2025 coach for the edge rushers, is joining O’Leary’s defensive staff with the Los Angeles Chargers. Spence is reportedly going to coach linebackers for the Chargers.
Seth Payne, a co-DC and defensive line coach at WMU, is reportedly leaving for Vanderbilt.
Central Michigan adds future series vs. Troy (plus an offensive line polar plunge)
If you want to see large men dunking themselves in very cold water for a good cause, you are in luck.
But first: Central Michigan announced on Wednesday a future home-and-home football series against Troy in 2028 and 2030. The 2028 game will be played at Troy with a return game in Mt. Pleasant in 2030.
In more contemporary matters, the Central Michigan offensive line will be taking a polar plunge this weekend (although the weather might not be that polar) to help raise funds for Special Olympics Michigan.
SOM has done the polar plunge initiative for a number of years, and this will be the third year running that the CMU offensive line takes part in the fundraiser. Their goal is to raise $5,000 before they dunk in the icy waters on Saturday at O'Kelly's/Wayside in Mt. Pleasant. The larger goal for the Mt. Pleasant gathering — there are other groups fundraising — is to raise $60,000.
As of Wednesday evening, the CMU offensive linemen raised just shy of $4,000. The Mt. Pleasant total is approaching $48,000. You can learn more and donate here.
