Excerpts: 

Sacramento State’s football program will reportedly move up to the FBS level of play this coming season, and will pay upward of $20 million in entrance fees to do so.

The Mid-American Conference will add Sac State as a football-only school following a vote by the conference’s presidents, ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported and two people with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed Saturday to The Sacramento Bee. An official announcement of the deal is expected in the coming days.

ESPN reported the expected entrance fee to the MAC at $18 million, on top of a $5 million fee to the NCAA to move from the Football Conference Subdivision of Division I football, or FCS, to the higher-level Football Bowl Subdivision, FBS.

Sacramento State, at the end of the current academic year, is departing the Big Sky Conference. The university announced last June that all major sports would be moving to the Big West Conference, which does not field a football program, after this summer.

The university last summer requested a waiver to move up to the FBS as an independent — without any conference affiliation. The NCAA denied that request.

North Dakota State last week announced its own move from the Missouri Valley Football Conference, an FCS league, to the FBS-level Mountain West. North Dakota State is paying $12.5 million to the Mountain West as its entry fee, ESPN’s Thamel reported.

Sacramento State would replace Northern Illinois, which is moving to the Mountain West Conference, as the MAC’s 13th football program.

The other 12 are Western Michigan, Ohio, Toledo, Miami (Ohio), Central Michigan, Akron, Buffalo, Kent State, Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green and Massachusetts.

Sacramento State football to join FBS conference, reportedly paying $20M+ in fees