North Dakota State, Sacramento State step into FBS as Week 0 arrives

North Dakota State and Sacramento State step into the FBS for the first time Saturday, arriving from opposite directions of the same climb — one a proven power, one starting over.

North Dakota State makes the jump off a 12-1 season and an 8-0 conference mark, the latest chapter for a program that won five FCS national titles in the last nine years out of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bison open at Jacksonville State at 5:30 p.m. ET, carrying a 26-3 record into Tim Polasek's third season as coach.

Sacramento State's move is a bigger reset. The Hornets went 7-5 last season and leave the Big Sky for the Mid-American Conference under first-year coach Alonzo Carter. They open at Eastern Michigan at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The two new FBS programs won't play each other in Week 0, but they're already on the calendar: North Dakota State visits Sacramento State on Sept. 19 at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Week 0's headline game belongs to North Carolina and TCU, who meet in Dublin for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic for the second straight season. A date and kickoff time for that game weren't available.

For Carter, Saturday is the first step in doing two hard things at once — installing a new staff and moving a program into a new league.