It will be interesting to see who among the DBs plays and where they fit them in. Questions to be resolved: Is Baston or Riddick going to be the field safety? Allen was also listed as a Safety last year, but also played a position UTEP called Spur, which some have described that as a slot corner, will he play corner, or is he the nickle? Who else plays corner?
Anyone notice that 247 Sports rated Blake Cotton as a 4 star transfer? On one of the Montana podcasts last fall they had a frequent guest who at one time was Montana State's cornerback coach. He thought highly of our corners last year.

My view is that the 105 roster limit is required because the NCAA don’t believe that can keep track of all the money flows to players and distinguish what is scholarship, what is NIL, and what is revenue sharing. That is why the roster limit is a requirement for teams that opt in, why schools can’t pay the NLI money directly or do revenue sharing without the roster limit.

Lots of examples where walk-ons turn into major contributors. Lamont Shamburger is a recent example.

They only allow 58 to travel to away games under Big Sky rules. I have long thought they should get rid of the FBS and FCS distinction by compromising on something like 73 scholarships, but with the multiple ways of paying players scholarship limits are too complicated to enforce, so now they substituted roster limits. A large roster is desirable because it is difficult to predict which HS players will be good at the college level, so sorting takes place after they are on the team.

If fewer men participate fewer women are needed to meet the proportionality requirements, but if the same number if men have scholarships then the women would continue to get the proportional amount of that resource.

What is the immediate benefit gained by giving up the immediate nearly nothing? Spread 63 scholarships over 105 players rather than 85? That dilutes the value of each scholarship so might not help recruiting. And maybe 85 is sufficient?

Cut the roster if it is more than 105.

One of the competitive advantages of opting in is the elimination of scholarship limits, but the Big Sky has a conference limit of 63 which negates that advantage,
There are other advantages, like sharing revenue with players, and moving NIL payments in house but Davis is may not ready to do that. I think there is no deadline to opt in, not doing it now doesn’t preclude doing it later.

Hero sports is out with it’s UC Davis preview. Also Idaho who they rank just ahead of #11 Davis
https://herosports.com/fcs-2025-uc-davis-football-preview-bzbz/

Lots they get right, but they project Perez will be #1 running back, whereas it is pretty clear from Plough’s comments that Fisher and Vargas will be the top backs. He said Fisher and Vargas had separated themselves, leading to Perez playing some at wide receiver.

The comparison with Idaho is striking. Davis has nine players who were All Conference in an FCS conference last year, Idaho has 2. Davis lost 2 transfers to the FBS, Idaho lost 20.

I hadn’t noticed Rutchena had such an outstanding start to his Cal career. Played wide receiver and safety in HS. Didn’t have a redshirt year but greyshirted, meaning he didn’t practice, then when he got to play linebacker for the first time this is how he finished his freshman year after becoming a starter..

– at Arizona - 8 tackles, 1 interception (0-yard return), 1 quarterback hurry
– at Stanford - 11 tackles ... career-high-tackles
– at UCLA - 9 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss (-6 yards), 1 pass breakup

Then he became a seldom used player, finally switching to tight end last year. Cal kept bringing in transfer linebackers.
I think Rutchena will be an impact player for Davis

You have hit on Sac State’s problem, no one wants to be their rival.
That’s a combination of being tier 2 in Football (FCS), tier 2 in the California public college systems, and tier 2 among Universities in the greater Sacramento area.

The only things standing in the way of Sac State as a BCU (obviously it lacks the History) is the demographics of the school, the region, the fans, and I suspect, the band.

i don’t think a black college is a viable model for a state where blacks make up 6% of the population, and a city where blacks are only 12%. Black colleges arose out of segregation in areas where there were large black populations.

As to whether I think Sac is breaking rules, i’m not sure. They may be able to stay under the 63 scholarship limit this year, as they got 40+ players to leave. The rule is 105 as an FCS independent in 2026 so thats also doable. It is legal to pay players.
I don’t think charisma accounts for their success. I think they are buying players with funds that there is no clear source for, making promises that will be unlikely to be met down the line. A kid doesn’t know what he’s signing up for if he stays 5 years at Sac State,

We are talking 2026 class so the NLI signing period hasn’t occurred yet, so only verbals.

Colter overweights the impact of Sac State not being FBS. A good chunk of the transfers and all the 2025 HS recruits signed before April, which is when Sac first announce they intended to go FBS without an invite. A good chuck of the transfers would never have played an FBS schedule nor visit an FBS opponent other than Nevada they visit this year. No reason for those players to be disheartened, they at least have a shot at playoffs.
Projecting that Sac loses at SDSU overlooks that SDSU lost over twenty FBS transfers, so they have their own challenges with integrating newcomers. Same is true for Nevada.

According to 247sports. Somewhat better than the revised Pac-12. But its early.
Idaho is ranked 81, Davis 100

I think it comes down to money, and Sac is willing to promise more than the going rate for a three and four stars.
It is cheap to make promises, when signing date comes around they’ll have to put it in writing,
Sac’s recruiting class is rated 56th by 247 among all schools, even after grabbing McDonald.

Regarding the lack of role models for blacks in coaching.
How many role models does one need? If 40% of the Div 1 football assistant coaches are black that would seem to indicate role models are not hard to find, even if one assumes that your role model should look like you.
Expecting the % of head coaches should be equal to the % of players in Div 1, ignores that coaches are drawn from a larger pool. There are a ton of coaches who didn’t play in Div 1.
The journey to becoming a head coach or AD often includes time coaching high school, division 3 schools, volunteering for no pay as an analyst. There are individuals of all races that take that career path, but one can’t assume they do so in proportion to demographics of players. Cultural issues affect who wants to do what in life.

I’m aware of a single Sac State player, Diesel Gordon facing a criminal charge and his case was treated like a nothing burger by the court. Tell me if there are others.
Gordon was charged with assault and reckless driving related to he and another Washington football players assaulting a bicyclist This was several years ago, He has since olayed at a community college.. i’m not saying he’s a fine citizen.
“ He pleaded guilty to assault and his reckless driving charge was dismissed. His sentence was deferred for two years - it will be dismissed if he has no new criminal violations in that time frame. He had to pay a small court fee and served 24 hours of community service.”

Before all these players sign, the schools are going to have to put in writing everything that is promised. Since the payouts will be directly from the schools for schools that opt into the House settlement, it follows that what these kids are being offered by public schools
will be public info. That will be interesting.

Full athletic scholarships cover tuition, fees, books, housing, meals and probably etc.
I don’t think it matters if the student gets discounted tuition, because the amount of tuition varies in other ways as well, like in state or out of state. Partial and full scholarships can be augmented with NIL money and revenue sharing, to meet or exceed the cost of attendance.
But the scholarship count issue is becoming moot, as the NCAA now has roster size limits in place of scholarship counts, and I suspect conferences don’t audit scholarships, which as you indicate are complicated and debatable. I think the NCAA got rid of scholarship counts just because what is
a scholarship is undefinable when mixed with other payments.

An FCS conference can set a limit and some do. The Big Sky limit is 63.
Last week the Missouri Valley Football Conference, just decided not to set a cap, joining these listed from google AI:
CAA: The CAA has mandated that all member institutions opt-in to the new NCAA rules, effectively removing the scholarship cap.
NEC: The Northeast Conference has also opted into the new rules, allowing for up to 105 scholarships, mirroring the new NCAA roster limit.
Southland: The Southland Conference will not enforce a football scholarship cap, allowing its members to distribute scholarships as they choose within the 105-player roster limit.
Here is why, also from google AI
NCAA Changes: The NCAA has eliminated the previous scholarship caps for most Division 1 sports, including football, and implemented roster limits instead.
House Settlement: The House vs. NCAA settlement, which includes provisions for revenue sharing and the changes to scholarship limits, is prompting these changes.
Conference Autonomy: While the NCAA has made these changes, individual conferences, like the MVFC, have the ability to set their own rules and scholarship caps.