This is the much bigger problem. It's one thing for football to do it for games that are once per week and, generally speaking, on a weekend. I know they travel on a Friday but when I went to school, there were multiple quarters where I didn't have any class on Friday, though this obviously isn't the case everywhere. But what are we doing when there are Thur/Sat basketball games? Now we've got student-athletes (I know it's a cliche but not all these kids are going pro in basketball) missing at least two days worth of classes plus all that time on the plane. It's one thing for UCLA to take the short flight up to Wash/Ore/Utah. It's another going back and forth to the midwest/east coast. And then you've got all the other smaller sports. If this is just football, it's not as big of a deal. But it probably won't be.

Newsom didn't have anything to do with this. If he didn't sign that bill, all those other states mentioned in the article still would have gone ahead and done it anyway. And even if NIL wasn't a thing, all these schools care about is the bottom line. If they can make more money from football by joining a different conference, they don't care about anything else. They're no different from any other sports league or even a large corporation. Money comes first and if making more money aligns with keeping the fans/consumers happy, all the better. If it doesn't align, oh well, F the fans/consumers.

I believe some UCLA observers are noting that Newsom's Covid lockdowns starved UCLA of revenue in FB and BB, leading to a $100+ M debt, which spurred the move.

I really don't care what happens to UCLA and Aunt Becky University. Little chance this affects UCD in any way, except maybe if UCLA will beg off that future football game ?

College athletics programs have gotten bloated to the point of being ridiculous. Being $100 million in debt-how did we even get to the point where such a thing was possible ?

Probably about the same time we decided the Ticket Manager becomes the Assistant Athletic Director.

I guess you could make that argument. But they could have a $100M budget surplus and if the Big 10 came calling to offer them $50M more, they'd jump in a second. Having a debt is just a convenient coincidence.

Conference moves dribble down.

Incarnate Word has announced it will back out of its agreement to move to the WAC and will remain in the Southland Conference. (Their swimming & diving teams will move to the MPSF where the women will compete against UCD.) Also Lamar will leave the WAC after one year and return to the Southland.

This doesn't surprise me. It's not the first time multiple Texas teams have used the WAC as a temporary workspace. Probably more to follow. Too many teams in the WAC, and Lamar is probably steamed they lost out to NMSU (losing record overall + in conference) in the WAC baseball tournament.

"Now, the WAC might have been a little bit too difficult for Lamar [men's basketball] — I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It beat their ass."
"Lamar went 0-18 in the program’s only season in the league. Only three results were within two possessions and 11 were by double digits."
https://www.midmajormadness.com/2022/7/11/23204187/a-wacky-monday-in-the-western-athletic-conference-ncaa-expansion-realignment-basketball

The Big 10 is considering 7 more schools:

College football realignment is in the air again after USC and UCLA decided to join the Big Ten in 2024, and now it appears the conference might not be done yet.

The league has identified seven more schools as a target for potential expansion, according to a report from the Action Network.

Those schools: Notre Dame, Oregon, Washington, Stanford, Cal, Miami, and Florida State, per the report.

https://www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb-hq/ncaa-football/college-football-realignment-big-ten-seven-schools-expansion

Is this the end of the traditional NCAA with history and tradition? I am not sure; but could see a landscape that is minor league football with many sports being eliminated.

I prefer the NFL better athletes, better game plans, shorter game. College football for me is about us beating Sac state.

I grew up on Big 10 football and always preferred the college game. I carried that with me when I came to D-II Far West Conference UC Davis. I deluded myself in to believing things like school spirit, beating your rival, winning homecoming, marching bands and cheerleaders...but things like the transfer portal, NIL, conference fluidity...it is rapidly losing what I enjoyed about it.

My two cents....

There is definitely something to what you are saying. The focus of college sports has changed quite a bit and it is more transparently about the money. If I attend a sporting event at some universities it's almost as if everyone working there sees you in terms of dollar signs and not your value as a supporter.

And I believe there's a growing disconnect as you get older too. The more time passes the less you can empathize with the student-athletes and their situations. I think you almost have to be a season ticketholder for football and/or basketball at UC Davis to feel a real connection to the athletic program if you're a not-so-recent alumna/us (with the exception being former student-athletes + coaches). It's really the only way the athletic dept will engage with you and of course even that is motivated by money on some level.

“ I think you almost have to be a season ticketholder for football and/or basketball at UC Davis to feel a real connection to the athletic program if you're a not-so-recent alumna/us (with the exception being former student-athletes + coaches). It's really the only way the athletic dept will engage with you and of course even that is motivated by money on some level.”
Well without money we wouldn’t have an athletic department. I’ve been a season ticket holder for a long time and when i compare UCD development to other programs I’m involved with i don’t feel a squeeze. But i think they do reach out to the community in general. For example the Aggie Fall Fest, https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2022/7/22/athletics-aggie-fall-fest-set-for-aug-19, is a free community event for fans.
I have a hard time putting my finger on it, but many of todays students seem to have different priorities when it comes to sports than many of us had back in the day. The toomb would be filled to capacity, the student section would be packed, and they were loud. I guess between the portal and NIL, it will be interesting to see where we are in 10 years.

5

Some weekends and key games packed, others not. Last year we set a record, I believe Covid comeback played a big role.

I'm surprised SUU hasn't decided to stay in the Big Sky.