this is a very good post. Honestly, I think we are in a particularly good place as a program. I think the best case scenario for us will happen no matter what, but I see pros and cons to both moves. I agree on that super conference at the top, hopefully Davis is able to position themselves/have the cards fall to have us in the best position when that happens

“ I thought we paid Lan and TY Johnson last year. Are we paying anyone this year?”

I think you’re correct. I didn't articulate my thoughts very well. I’m thinking in terms of program wide resources. For example the Griz pay each player an equal amount. I don’t remember the exact figure, but its either 20k or 50k per year. Tim has commented several times that they have 500 donors that contribute 1k each year. We have about a 100 similar donors. But beyond our specific situation, the current system of money schools able to buy away top players from programs like ours is troubling to me. That’s what i was referring to regarding some sort of realignment. I’m happy for many of these kids, especially those that come from challenging environments where the money is life changing, but there must be a better way forward.

pretty sure it was just Rex this year

Judging who we paid the last two seasons, I presume Plough will only try to give NIL money to Caden next year. Perhaps we get more NIL money next year? Does anyone have a link to NIL donations?

I know of this one but unsure if it is the best: https://www.aggiefootballfund.com/

Adding to the theme of the recent posts:

Commenters guessing who the QB could be....
Best comment: "Has to be Mike Literus."

It seems like I read something on this forum or heard it mentioned somewhere that the Aggies have struggled to get significant financial support from many of our former players some of whom have gone on to be very financially successful in football and/or in their professional careers. I also remember Plough practically pleading for former Aggies to open their pocketbooks during his first presser after being named our new head coach. I'm hoping that that has changed since he took the helm.

It’ll be interesting to see what kind of turnout we get for the February fund event in SF, and how much money they generate.

my guess is him and Gbatu

"You know, I'm not so sure I want to move to the FBS anymore." I feel this way exactly and I used to be a huge fan of Cal and Pac-12 sports. I haven't watched a complete game since 2023. I much prefer the FCS.

The bowl games are actually money losers for the participants which is part of the reason so many programs opt out. If G5 moves to a playoff format that would be an improvement but you won’t need to reserve a seat since that entire subdivision will be losing massive amounts of money.

Now that there is no difference in the number of scholarship between the two divisions what is the advantage of being FBS? The middle initial and the chance to play in a bowl like the Famous Potato Bowl in place of the FCS playoffs?
The minor bowl games are so unimportant that players and coaches opting out of them is routine and not controversial. Washington State had six players opt out of their bowl game due to the transfer portal.

The thing is, will FCS still be fine without the dakotas and montanas if they move up?
Also truthfully I see a change in FBS within 2030-2032 where the P4 will likely make a change and I can see a new G6 playoffs.
I personally would love to be FBS within the mountain west and play New Mexico, Nevada-Reno, UNLV(if they stay), San Jose state, and possibly rumored new members NDSU and Tarleton state every year.

I think instead of New Mexico and UNLV, you might see Cal and Stanford instead. Those are traditional FBS schools but they geographically stunted and if the next deal gets reduced, I’d expect the ACC to push them out because the ROI will not be good enough. If that happens where does Cal and Stanford go?

I thought there was a lot of interesting information in this link:

Can UW Sports Compete In Division I As Lower Divisions Offer More NIL Money?

Here are some snippets:

Montana and Montana State, who compete in a tier below Wyoming, each spend $2.2 million on NIL, while Wyoming spends $1.4 million. "That's embarrassing," one Wyoming booster said. "Schools that don't sit on the wealth of money we do are outspending us."

UW Athletic Director Tom Burman offered a pointed rebuttal to those suggesting Wyoming consider the FCS route.

"The better question is, why are Montana, Montana State begging to get into the Mountain West?" Burman told Cowboy State Daily. "I can tell you that the top tier of the FCS is willing to pay money to join the Mountain West."

"Maybe the Big Sky doesn't want us,” Ortiz said. "Maybe we're in a league with Chadron State. From an enrollment standpoint, there's a lot of Division II and Division III schools that have the same enrollment as Laramie does.”

Cal and Stanford will wind up back aligned with UCLA, Arizona, ASU, Utah, Colorado, Oregon State, and Washington State for football. The real interesting thing will be the next rung down, the Fresno/Boise/SDSU types, and whether the Montana’s and Dakota’s level up to that world.

They are basically irrelevant - however, they can serve as building blocks for programs looking to boost up their image (see Penn State win at Yankee Stadium, or maybe Michigan outcome vs. Texas) or at least give their alumni one last hurrah for the year. The only downside being that most of the star players do not play if they're declaring for the draft - or the Portal...so the rate of return on the game is somewhat diminished.

Me personally however, I've found most of the bowl games to be entertaining, my Dad and I were invested watching the New Mexico vs. Minnesota game - Eck had those Lobos flying around the field, but the play by the Gophers to seal the win was phenomenal, we were yelling out loud "Did he catch that? Whoa! What a play, what the hell was that safety doing over the top?"

Still entertaining, that's my two cents...it's also a chance for players-to-be in the program to come out and shine when the declaring players aren't in there.

I agree. Stanford and Cal are in a tough position. They are academically elite, but their football teams no longer have USC and Washington to carry the burden of winning big time football. In all honesty, they begged the ACC to take them, but who would you rather have if you were the ACC? Notre Dame or Cal? You see ND is going to have to join a conference and that conference will either be the ACC or a new league will be created to keep the blue blood football teams separate from the rest of the "lower class of teams"...aka Cal, Stanford, Nevada, Texas Tech, etc...So what do they do? I don't know, but I'll tell you what I would do if I were in charge.

We are in a new age of college sport. It's no longer about kids going to college and playing for their school for spirit. That day is over. College sports is business...a billion dollar business. So what are the assets? Our kids. Look around at the college football across the country, what do you see? I see a ton of California kids on Texas, Ohio St, ND, Clemson, Miami, Florida, Georgia...all those "GREAT" football schools are winning with our kids. College football wants California kids but they do not want California schools to get a piece of the pie (kill the PAC). Look at the list of where the top California kids are attending school:

1. Kodi Greene, Santa Ana - Washington
2. Chris Henry, Santa Ana - Ohio St
3. Tommy Tofi, San Francisco - Oregon
4. Brandon Arrington, San Diego - Texas A&M
5. Ryder Lyons, Folsom - BYU
6. Khary Wilder, Gardena - Ohio St
7. Richard Wesley, Chatsworth - Texas
8. Davon Benjamin, Westlake Village - Oregon
9. JD Hill, Mission Viejo - Washington
10. RJ Mosley, Pittsburg - Arizona

Look at that list of the top 100 kids in California, only 20% are staying in California to attend school. Why is that? Why are our kids choosing to attend lower academic schools outside the state? It's not the academics, in most cases we are better. So what is it? I'll tell you, the NCAA and the SEC specifically have turned college football into a business. So what I say is we turn our football schools into a business as well...and we keep our assets at home....except we don't try to buy it by trying to get out of state schools to join California...instead we build our own. We invest in building a California Conference. This will take flushing the "elitism" status we have been taught to believe...aka "Cal, Stanford, UCLA, and USC are the only "real" college football schools. Gotta trash that idea.

California Conference

Cal
Stanford
UC Davis
UCLA
USC
San Diego St
Fresno St
San Jose St
Cal Poly
Sac St

We invest in building a new conference that maximizes our kids opportunities and taps into the largest football talent in the country. We use Silicon Valley and Hollywood to leverage our hand. We create our own TV network. We keep California money in California. We keep our California kids in California. By doing this the rest of the country loses its grip on taking our kids out of state. As the conference grows and money increases, we funnel that into the California schools which impacts all of us. Schools get more funding, business grows, and the overall California economy wins.

By focusing on building California schools, we create more community and natural rivalries. We have the stadiums like the Rose Bowl, Levi Stadium, LA stadium, San Diego.

Do I think this is possible? Yes, however the rest of the nation will not like this at all. They will fight hard to keep it the way it is. They will do everything possible to keep it status quo, because if this did happen, the top talent will stay home and every conference will fight us.

Just my opinon.

UCLA a long shot, USC impossible.

An interesting post, like many in this thread that are focused on the future of college athletics. I completely agree with you that the collegiate athletic environment has changed quickly and drastically. I also agree that it’s become more of a financially driven business than a culture-building program within a university. Unfortunately, the business model the power conferences and others are pursuing is unsustainable. We all know that.

But, regarding your post, I don’t see a “California Conference” being more than an intriguing blog post. The schools on your list are too diverse in the following areas:

1 - Mindset / Culture
2 - Disparity of facilities
3 - NIL/Booster $$

None of those will conceivably change within the next decade.

Very interesting read, some real food for thought. I don’t know if that configuration could generate the revenue streams to keep the P4 programs interested, especially USC. The other 3 might be all about it!

California TV Markets (National Rankings):
#2 Los Angeles
#10 SF-OAK-SJ
#20 Sac-Stockton-Modesto
#28 San Diego

The big money is in the TV deals. They could really capitalize on the old Pac 10 After Dark model and own the late game time slots. Maybe overtake the MACtion game son Tuesdays or whatever, I’ve still never watched one of those.

Never watch MACtion games either.

the cautionary tale is that the #10 or 20 TV market generally may not be the #10 or 20 market for football interest when you factor demographics.

Someone remind me why we want to go BCS. It makes no sense. None of it makes sense. We're in the business of making talent for the big guys. We can enjoy being competitive on the FCS landscape. But the huge fundraising requirement of FCS? Really? This is a Good Thing? Why? Let's live within our means not chase money where we will always be minor players in a small market.

If UC Davis' reputation comes from football then I don't want any part of an association with the university. Our rep comes from academics and outcomes. Graduating student athletes not semi-pro athletes - or even professional athletes.

How realistic is $260 million in facilities upgrades, NIL, and we still minimally market to our 40,000 non-commuter students?

We already have loads of applicants and fundraising 100x what was done in 1980.

Add the tower, make upgrades where feasible, but let college big-time football shake out. Really, are you ready to pay a HC $10 million, then $20 million, a QB millions, and add more debt? All to play Wyoming or Fresno State in football?

How does moving into a league with Nevada and San Jose State open up Davis to the country? The MWC tv partners are Fox and CBS, with most of the televised games in the late window on FS1 and CBSSN. Nobody watches those networks. Meanwhile ESPN has shifted the Big Sky into the old P12 after dark window (along with west coast home games in the B12 and ACC). Davis was on ESPN three times this year, with two home games, and would be in a less advantageous media slot in the MWC.

The MW is a decent target, but it may not look the same in 5-10 years (our window to move into it). Being methodical and cautious is what we will do, but having goals to play in higher quality conferences cannot hurt. Heck, we have comparable budgets to some MW teams currently. Why not shoot to get more revenue back from the conference?