Order is restored and my OCD is in remission, Ags placed second in a quadrangular meet last night with 192.975 points while Sac placed third with 192.675. That gives UCD 2.5 points in the Causeway Cup to make the running score 32.5-10. Next schedule event, (I think,) is softball at Sacramento on February 26th.

A correction is in order. An earlier news release stated that the Causeway Cup meets for gymnastics would be January 5 at Sacramento and January 24th in Davis. (https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2020/1/2/womens-gymnastics-uc-davis-gymnastics-opens-at-sac-state.aspx)

A more recent release (https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2020/1/20/womens-gymnastics-uc-davis-returns-home-for-friday-quad-meet.aspx) and the Causeway Cup webpage (https://ucdavisaggies.com/sports/2019/8/9/2019-20-causeway-cup.aspx) say that the Cup points will be determined at the quadrangular meet in Davis on the 24th and at a dual meet in Sacramento on March 7th.

So we are at square one, with no gymnastic points awarded and the running score is 30-10. The Ags and Hornets will compete against each other at least six times this season. In two meetings thus far the Ags have defeated the Hornets both times.

I'm going out on a limb here, but I think his wife, Stacey, is a Sperbeck, and related to the former Sac State coach....but I could be wrong.

I'd always heard that he transferred because he "wanted to throw the ball." Mattos was the Sac coach and he had a running back named John Farley. Getting the ball to Farley and letting him run with it was a pretty good game plan. Farley was drafted by the Bengals in '84 and stuck around on the roster for one season.

It's official:
https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2020/1/20/football-coombs-named-aggies-defensive-coordinator.aspx

First things first. Get the athletics into D-1 and FBS, then start funding for the library.

For family reasons I followed the Trojans closely in the 2000-2010 era. Trust me, the USC faithful were more than aware of the streak. Used it frequently on chat site "discussions" with SEC fans who felt that SEC football was what God watched on Saturdays. A common thread from the USC fans was that most SEC schools schedule a game or two with lower tier schools, and we aren't talking James Madison or North Dakota State. We're talking University of Southeast Western North Carolina Teachers and Ferriers College at Mayberry, etc.. I think there were a couple of other FCS schools at the time that still had not played "down." As the article points out, part of the issue now is that the only other two schools that have not played FCS opponents are Notre Dame and UCLA - USC's biggest traditional rivals.

When the game was announced people pointed out that there were simply no other FBS schools that were available that weekend. Maybe USC can find an FBS team that is scheculed to play an FCS or "mid-level FBS" team that weekend and bribe, encourage or pay them to get out of that game, freeing the FCS (or FBS) opponent to play the Ags.

I think most of us saw this (the execution of the cancellation or buy-out clause) coming back when the game was announced.

It's ironic, to me at least, that one of the arguments the big schools in the FBS make against a larger playoff is that more games will be harder on schools, coaches and players....and throw in the effect of an extended schedule on the scholar-athletes. Then you look at NDSU playing 16 games (and that's with an opening round bye in the playoffs) and of course the lower divisions, D-II, D-III and the NAIA, have larger playoffs, yet as you 'descend' down those divisions there is less and less likelihood that the athletes will ever extend their playing careers beyond their last college game.

And a begrudging congratulations to the Bison. They set the standard in D-II and now in D-1/FCS.

Yeah, given a choice between a pair of games at say, UCLA and UCSB, or a couple at Davis and Sac State (particularly Sac's campus gym) I suppose most teams would take the former. I recall hearing Sochor once say that he was worried about rumors that UCSB was considering playing football at the DII level. Any time a DII level, UC eligible recruit saw Santa Barbara the recruiting war would be over.

If I recall correctly, always a big IF, UOP football used to schedule games at Miami or Hawai'i. Good recruiting tool for the Tigers. No matter what else happens you'd get a trip to Florida or Hawai'i.

Another avenue to explore might be pairing with other programs in Northern California to bring schools from other regions....as an example An Ohio State women's team traveled to California in December and played Stanford and Sac State. The visitors got two games, one of which gave thier reserves some considerable playing time. Perhaps Ags could work something with Pac 12, WAC, and WCC schools along those lines.

Ags defeated Hornets, 191.825 - 191.175, in gymnastics this afternoon in a meet at Sacramento. (BUT THE MEET DOES NOT COUNT TOWARDS THE CAUSEWAY CUP) Running score in the Causeway Cup is 32.5-10. REMAINS 30-10

SEE CORRECTION BELOW

So does the entire Big West conference play "beat up on the little schools" this weekend, right before conference play begins? UCI travels to Harvard, but the rest of the men's schedule is Westmont at UCSB, St. Katherine at CSF, Vanguard @ Cal Poly, Holy Names at UCD, St. Katherine (again!) at CSUN, CSULA at Long Beach and San Diego Christian at UCR. On the women's side we have Ottawa (AZ) at UCSB, Hope International at CSUN, Wm. Jessup at UCD, Holy Names at Cal Poly and Westcliff at UCI. Sounds like SEC football scheduling.

And AggieFinn, thank you for taking the reins to this venture of love.

Merry Christmas and other greetings of the season to all.

It won't happen in my lifetime, but NDSU could move right into the B1G 10 or Big XII. They have a recent record of football success against teams in those conferences and they already wrestle in the Big XII. Don't think either of those conferences is looking to move into the Dakotas, though. Not a whole lot of TV viewers there.

Bee article:
https://www.sacbee.com/sports/high-school/joe-davidson/article238278083.html

Not sure what the deal is with the link, or perhaps my computer skills. Doesn't work on my phone, but works on my computer. Kind of the story of my life.

And I think most of us would agree. One of the comments the article makes about Hayden Fry of Iowa is how many of his assistants went on to coaching jobs elsewhere. Same could be said of Sochor. Oregon should send Davis a royalty payment every year.

Thanks! Contribution has been made.

Go Ags!

It may not have been raining at game time, but it rained a lot during the day and was still raining in the area at 4:30. That could discourage people making evening plans. Throw in a late start for a playoff game, what is still largely a commuter campus, a relatively unknown opponent...and after all, it is Sac.

Sac's seating is good for the Causeway game and for big track & field events, but those Rose parade stands are a bit of overkill for the usual Sac audience.

Announced attendance was 5140.

http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/fball/2019-20/boxscores/20191207_81xh.xml