By admin 
Minutes before a 6:30 a.m. Southwest Airlines flight began boarding Friday morning, passengers at the Sacramento International Airport heard an unusual announcement from the airline crew.
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“Let’s make some noise! When I say Stingers Up, you go Hornets. Stingers Up! Hornets! Let’s go, Hornets!”
Ahead of Sacramento State’s debut game in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Southwest Airlines sponsored 35 round-trip plane tickets for fans and community members to travel to Michigan and support the team. Fans were scheduled to fly out through the day to make it well in time for the game against Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“A few Sacramento State Hornets fans are flying with us, heading to Michigan to cheer on the Sacramento State Hornets football team in its inaugural FBS game,” the Southwest Airlines crew member announced. “This is an exciting new chapter for the Hornets who now play in the Mid-American Conference.”
Earlier this year, the Hornets cemented their place at the highest level of college football when they joined the Mid-American Conference at a price tag of roughly $24 million to be paid over the next five years. The MAC includes Western Michigan, Toledo, Central Michigan, Ohio and Buffalo. Until last year, the Hornets played in the Football Championship Subdivision as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The big move made Sacramento State the first California program in nearly 60 years to transition from the FCS to the FBS. Fresno State and San Diego State moved up to the FBS in 1969.
Sacramento State is a geographic outlier in its new conference. The nearest MAC opponent is Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, which is almost 2,200 miles away.
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Green and gold balloons adorned the airport’s Terminal B Friday morning as signs declared Sacramento State was “flying into a new era.” Among the 35 fans selected to witness the team’s first foray into the FBS was Wayne Stokes, a 1967 Sacramento State graduate. Sporting a Hornets sweatshirt, Stokes said he was excited that the school’s football program was “changing things” and hoped for positive results.
“I’ve been a longtime fan,” Stokes said. “It’s always good to move up, and we’ve been working on that for a long time. I think the coach we have now has got the attitude that we used to have with Troy Taylor, and we’re going to be a very successful team. It’s exciting and that’s why we’re on the plane to go to Detroit.”
The Saturday game is not just Sacramento State’s FBS debut; it is also the start of Alonzo Carter’s first year as the team’s head coach. In an interview with The Sacramento Bee ahead of the inaugural game, Carter said the team was not entering the FBS for a participation ribbon but to win and be champions.
“This is a big moment for our student-athletes,” Sacramento State Athletics Director Mark Orr said in a statement. “The team’s hard work, talent, and passion will shine through as we make our first appearance in FBS, the biggest stage in college football.”
For fans who didn’t make it into the lucky 35, Sacramento State Football announced a watch party at local sports bar Clubhouse 56 in Sacramento at 3 p.m. Saturday. Others can tune in on ESPN+ and ESPN 1320 AM Radio.
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This story was originally published August 28, 2026 at 10:21 AM.