It will be interesting to see if SAC being FBS actually will result in “corporate money” and increased attendance. It sure increases costs.
I wonder how many people in Sacramento could match the MAC schools with their state, or know anyone who ever went to one of these schools. Long time Davis fans know a couple of them from D2 days. Sac will have trouble selling itself as the attraction after last seasons hype turned out not to be fulfilled.
I think Sac may win a few games because the lower half of the MAC conference is not tougher than FCS competition.

Sacramento is spending 17 million dollars just in fees to join a conference largely streamed on ESPN+ with teams all in the Eastern or Central time zones that on average are little more than a field goal better than Big Sky teams.
On the plus side they get rid of the FCS label. That middle initial is costly.

Players have a window to transfer after coaching changes.. 15 day window beginning five days after new coach announced.

Is this Jake Locker related to the former NFL QB Jake Locker? Not his son. Jake Locker sons are named Cooper, Colt, and Cade and they live in Washington state.

. Locker transferred as a junior in the midst of the season (after four games), then tore an ACL in week 1 of his senior campaign. Played at a low level San Diego school, All of which can make him overlooked.
As seems to be the norm, he’s had a lot of high level private coaching
https://thecoastnews.com/maranathas-top-qb-jake-locker-aims-to-turn-heads-in-final-season/

I can’t believe that the fan base is so narrow that they can’t draw fom the large city 21 miles away, a city in which they are the second largest employer. If they have to draw just from Solano and Yolo, they aren’t going to succeed.

Fans are over the novelty of playing major schools in games that are mostly non competitive. I wonder how many Davis fans who attended the recennt Washington game or the Oregon State game want to repeat that experience. The NCAA and the courts have made football much more costly which makes those games necessary, whereas we should be scheduling Mountain West schools, which would really provide a measuring stick of “readiness” to move up.

You have hit on the reason the new rules limit roster size and not scholarship number; NIL and revenue sharing make scholarship limit unenforceable, because players can be otherwise paid.
I know that people use NIL as shorthand for other ways of compensating players, but revenue sharing is going to be the bulk of it. When teams sign on to the settlement they can directly pay players in house via revenue sharing, whereas NIL deals also move in house but have to have a business case.

i think they stop counting at five years at which time a player is supposed to be at least 80% there.

There is no longer a subdivision difference in number of scholarships. Missouri Valley Football teams can have 105, as can several other FCS conferences. The Big Sky chose to retain the 63 limit. I doubt that lasts past a few losses to Missouri Valley teams in the playoffs.

When the roster is finalized just count names. It has been over 105 by a few but once they sign onto the settlement which they said they intend to do it can be no more than 105.

Two linebackers is our base defense. Three if you count the “rush” linebacker who plays on the line of scrimmage. If the nickel position is more of a safety than a corner you have three safeties. Last year we had some good sized safeties.
I’m sure the DC is a very sharp guy, but we have always fallen short of being a dominating defense, even when we seem to have quality players. If you look at last season before the Connors’ injuries they gave up 549 yards to Southern Utah. Thats with five all conference players on defense.
On the related subject of depth or lack there of, it is puzzling when a team has 105 players on the roster, has injuries in the high teens or low twenties, and doesn’t have 60 players to take on a road trip. Thats a lot of guys on the roster not trusted to play. Some of that is the players aren’t good, some is that the coach is conservative about letting guys on the field, some of it is that almost all the games are close so there is not the same opportunity to play reserves, but the bottom line is not a very deep team.

At the end of the season, opponents were having success rushing against Davis. Sac state almost exclusively ran the ball and came close to winning. Rhode Island which only rushed for 83 yards against Central Connecticut had 173 yards at over six yards per carry. Illinois State had 266 yards rushing on 42 carries again over six yards per carry. Rushing defense was Davis’ Achilles heel, and defensive injuries were the arrow that killed us.

I wonder if he'll bring some players with him. Really the only reason to announce this just a few days after his resignation.

These guys argued that they didn't play four seasons as defined by the NCAA, they arent questioning the rule itself. The Connors case argues the definition of what constitutes a game.

Southern Utah is going to be a tougher opponent than Sac State would have been had they remained in the Big Sky.
Still lots of good teams in FCS. Davis was projected 13th for 2026 on ncaa.com’s way too early projections.

I don’t see how they recruit at all they have zero chance of making playoffs or being relevant in any way until or unless they have a full schedule. The schedule they have is a long way from proving they deserve to be an FBS

I wonder how they can recruit as well as they have with no affiliation and an incomplete schedule.

Schools are getting commitments to stay as a condition of receiving revenue sharing. Washington QB Desmond Williams signed such a contract and when he tried to enter transfer portal Washington and Big 10 threatened to sue him for breach of contract.

Once the courts defined the issue as the NCAA colluding to deprive the players of their right to earn, it put the NCAA in a situation where they had to negotiate the settlement, The resulting settlement has terms the big programs can live with and some even profit from and the small programs not so much. The interests of the fans and other sports were not at the table.