Sacramento State is the newest member of FBS. UMass and the Hornets never met during the Minutemen's seasons in FCS.
Predicting Sacramento State's first season with the MAC is difficult. First, the Hornets received their invite to the MAC after the transfer portal closed. So this team is configured as an FCS independent.
That's the good news. The bad news is they are probably a good FCS independent. Last year they played in FCS's top league and went 7-5 total and 5-3 in the Big Sky. They lost by three points to FBS Nevada.
However, nearly that entire team is gone. The Hornets return one starter on offense and two starters on defense. There is no need to quote last year's team stats as that team is no longer there.
Athlon Sports names six Hornets to the MAC's preseason All-league team.
On offense, players to watch include QB
Carson Conklin. He finished 3rd in 2024 for the Jerry Rice award (Top player in FCS) for the Hornets. He played six games for Fresno State in 2025 and beat Boise State on their home field. He's back with the Hornets this year.
RB Jamar Curtis was a former FCS All-American at Lafayette. Six-Five 222 pound TE Jordan Williams started for the Hornets last year. WR Matt Coleman joins Sacramento State after playing in 35 games for San Jose State.
On defense, 6-2 252 pound DE
Xavier Williams is probably Sacramento's best player.
The Hornets return both inside linebackers from last year. Derek Houston and Alex Rocha should make the middle of Sacramento State's defense tough.
Athlon Sports picks Sacrament State 12th in MAC (ahead of only UMass). Lindys picks them 8th (ahead of Ball State, Kent State, Bowling Green, Akron and UMass).
We all believe the Minutemen will be better in 2026. The question is, will UMass be improved enough to beat a good FCS team.
The AI Grok thinks this will be a close game with the Hornets winning 24-20. Grok also thinks both UMass and Sacramento State win totals will be around 3-9 for both teams.
UMass should beat Sacred Heart and Stonehill, so the Sacramento State game will be a chance for a three-game win streak. Do you remember the Minutemen's last three game win streak? (answer at the end of this post).
We should know a lot more about both teams by the time they meet. UMass will be the Hornets fifth game of the season, which will include a season opener at Eastern Michigan. UMass will be on its fourth game after Rutgers and the two FCS teams.
My guess is this game will be close. It's a chance for a huge morale boost for UMass fans as a win would mean a four or five win season could be possible. I'll say Pop Watson leads Minutemen to their first big win of the Harasymiak era.
Go UMass!
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Answer to the win-streak question: In 2009 UMass beat Albany, Rhode Island and Stony Brook in a row in Kevin Morris' first season as head coach. The Stony Brook win was 09/26/2009. A win at Sacrament State on 09/26/2026 would be a new three game win streak after..
- 6,209 days
- 17 years (exactly)
- 887 weeks. That's brutal :(
