Shows how much I think about those programs, forgot about them! Nevada has UNLV for the Cannon, but man they got upset about the Tahoe deal so let's get it on!!!

San Jose State-Fresno has been sort of a thing in past years. I remember as a kid back in the old 1980's PCAA days those Mike Perez-led Spartan teams vs. Kevin Sweeney's Bulldogs were must see TV.

I'm fine with that.

The distance across the Causeway makes it a natural rivalry, especially as the two programs have competed mostly at the same "level" of college football. I don't disagree with any of your points, it is simply what it is.

Cal has Stanford and Stanford has Cal. I doubt the Ags crack that one anytime soon.

In the old days, Fresno's rival was Cal Poly. Many, many moons ago. Fresno-Davis makes more sense moving forward once we hit the MWC.

Sac vs. Toledo, Bowling Green, all of the Directional Michigans, Buffalo, UMass, Ohio U. et al will be riveting Tuesday/Wednesday night MACtion viewing for all... :vomit: I nominate Sac State vs. UMass for the rivalry game for no good reason. Player parents and degenerate gamblers are the only people who will care about those match ups.

Right, I was just being a smart ass. With their newfound FBS/MAC affiliation, it's doubtful they will travel to Davis again until we're "at their level" :rofl: No way we go out there without a guarantee for now.

And I'm in no way questioning his abilities or pedigrees. It is hard for ANY QB from ANY program to adjust to ANY level of college football. It just hits different (literally).

How about this version of future Causeways: $300k on the line, played in Sac every year. Ags win and they get paid. Sac wins and they keep it. Spice it up a little.

From the AI regarding MAC attendance and the prospect of Sac averaging 15k+ over the next 5 years:

Based on 2025 data, MAC football attendance ranges from roughly 21,000 at the top (Toledo, Ohio) to under 8,000 at the bottom (Akron), with many schools averaging fewer than 10,000 fans per game. This represents a significant, long-term struggle for the conference to draw crowds.

I tend to agree with SailorGabe in that there will be a major shake-up in college football after the '27 season or whenever the new TV deals are up, with a split between Power 4 and the rest+ maybe 3-5 current FCS's elevating at that time, perhaps with a re-vamped playoff split between the two "upper levels".

There are a lot of things a young QB from smaller competition has to adjust to, even before the ball is snapped: is the protection right, what's the coverage telling me, shit, those defensive guys are fast, and, oh yeah, the receivers are faster than I've ever played with! That's why it is the hardest thing to do well in sports aside from hitting a baseball.

No idea. Would have made for a nice story. I had never heard of his school so I looked them up on MaxPreps and there was only one small school on the schedule I had heard of before (Coronado). Used to be a great Irish pub in Coronado, by the way if any of yall ever make it out there.

LeFan beat me to it. Since he's out for a year with the ACL, they'll treat him like a '27 signee basically. Or he can take unlimited medicals like the Montana kid and start his freshman year in 2029 or so.

Has the pedigree. Seems to be our M.O., going after kids with a family history at QB! One of them should be able to win!

I don't see a mention of FBS as a goal; it is more of a statement of fact:

"In today's evolving college football landscape, opportunities at the Football Bowl Subdivision level continue to grow. With this extension, DeLuca, the athletic department and Plough have reaffirmed their shared commitment to the long-term success of Aggie football on the national stage."

I am fired-up that Plough was extended and it's positive news coming out of Davis during the doldrums of pre-Spring Football. I share RollOn's perspective though that the statement was a hype piece; a combination of hyperbole and vision casting without much meat on the bone aside from the fact that Plough will be driving the ship as long as he wants to, which I think we are all behind in support.

SEA is the best tackling and pass rushing Secondary team of all time, or at least that I have ever seen. Had to be in order to hold up and pressure the way they did in Dime. New England didn't have the Tight End depth to bang the Dime. The Rams ran more 13/12 pers than anyone and those were the Seahawks' worst games Defensively, although they found a way to win when it mattered most (thanks, McVay). First round 49er game might have been different with Kittle and a healthy TE room. You look at the recent Aggie recruiting class and there is a smallish LB and some good tackling DBs from the few clips I've watched. You're right and we will see more Dime/Nickel than traditional Defensive packages. We need to do a better job with downhill run teams.

I, too, enjoy watching the two programs side-by-side. Crazy how far apart they are in so many ways.

THE CALIFORNIA WAY!!! TAX, TAX, TAX.

Going back to my proposal to spend money to make money by expanding the Athletic Department staff to include specific "teams" to attack various areas of operations, the 9% Donors/Corporate Sponsors is 20% less than NDSU (which is laughable given the locations of the two schools). To me, those are two distinct areas for fundraising; donors (private, alumni) and corporate sponsors, and require specific personnel/teams to address those areas. Until we grow the Department, the current staff, bless their hearts, are going to wear too many hats and be stretched too thin to get that place to where it can potentially be support-wise.

No arguments here. Illinois State ran it up our tailpipe. Massive issue. URI popped a long one on us for 63 of the 172 yards rushing, which, I know you can't discount, but if I recall the play, we blitzed and they hit it perfectly. Regardless, no excuse, but not really concerning. Sac State was a massive issue. 65 rush attempts for net 335! I had never seen anything like that, and it wasn't exotic. Not sure if that one was scheme, available personnel, or, most likely, both. From the stands and a couple Mexican lagers into it, I vaguely remember not liking the way we were defending the edges until late in the game. If I recall, we hit a couple edge pressures/games and made adjustments down the stretch which won the game. In-game adjustments > opponent's offensive stats.

As for our scheme, it seems that we're playing with three Safeties on the field most of the time and only two LBs. That's modern football I guess, and I understand the need to match personnel and body types, but I think there is also a time and a place to take one of them off the field and add an LB. Maybe our Safety personnel was better than our next LBs up. I trust the DC to make that call and adjust accordingly. Stop the run, hit the QB, and take away the football. When we did that, we typically won football games and will do so in the future (so profound :rofl: ). The four we lost, the opponent probably went for 200+ on the ground.

This off-season will likely be spent addressing the run defense. I trust our DC, I think he is outstanding and a very sharp guy. He, along with that staff, will figure it out.

Speaking for myself, winning an FCS national championship is not a pre-req for moving up; it is my opinion that given the current trajectory, we are heading in that direction. Even if the Ags never win that specific game, its a moonshot and having a consistently elite FCS team will make the transformation to FBS easier because it means that we have better players, financial commitments, etc. Better prepared for the rigors that schedule and competition will present.

I see no issue with NDSU moving-up. I would consider them better suited today for the move than UC Davis.

RollOn is spot-on with trying to lock in the fee number now, it will only go up if not addressed.

Bottom line is that no one is every fully ready for that transition. My "argument" is to make it as painless as possible by continuing to build up what we have until the time comes in the next 3-5 years. Have a clear path with tangible goals. Novel concept.

"Seven years of college down the drain. Might as well have joined the f*&%ing Peace Corps." If only Bluto had been a USC Trojan/Montana Grizzly.

Agreed on all fronts with both of your last posts. While interns are great, what I am saying is to create positions with actual athletic department professionals. You're probably looking at $1-2m in salaries, benefits, etc. for 8-10 positions, but they would generate at least that after a year pretty easily, and more as it grows. What's the old saying, you have to spend money to make money.

SailorGabe, the wine side of it is really underutilized. There has to be some winery out there or mega corporation that owns a wine portfolio that would get involved. Easy marketing and promotion. Plus the craft beer side of things, plenty of breweries around. Cal Poly added an 805 area to their north end zone, we can go bigger and better.

Aggie merchandise in general sucks. All bookstores suck, and they probably have the rights in the stadium. Until that is improved, until Adidas provides better offerings, and until they produce gear that people actually want, it is going to remain sucky. The college bookstore racket is real.

A tomato fight after the game would be outstanding. A BBQ pit would be outstanding. A concert area would be a nice touch. I've actually seen a high school in SoCal with a similar set up; tailgating area with a stage and a DJ, couldn't believe it. Student bands were up there shredding, fun atmosphere but no booze. Simple adjustment for a public university.

The Aggie Walk deal is a solid tradition but they come in really early. Not sure how you dress that up and get more people participating.

I've read about a former 4 Star, 30-something Linebacker currently residing in Missoula who might be interested

Hahaha! We need to find odds on him making it out of training camp in 2026.