I think the MW wants 10 football members at the end of the day (at least for now). This is partially why I feel there is potential that Davis could be that 10th member…

Interesting move, idk NIU has been okay at football recently, I was reading about stuff and people have been saying this has been discussed/rumored before (I don’t remember ever hearing that??) but yeah we shall see

Ha, and/or lumber.

What is a reason to move to the mountain west besides the possibility of moving football?

Exposure to more people? It trades California for widely distributed but less populated regions. But Californians are the ones who by and large attend and fund UC, and they’re trading that audience for one where half your opponents are New Mexico (and its adjacent El Paso) and Nevada. Grand Canyon in Phoenix has a devoted but niche following.

Similar institutions? Can’t get more aligned similar institutions than the UCs, which have similar academics, student enrollment, and endowments to Davis.

It is just a lateral move at best without football, which is why I believe football is motivating this move.

exactly. dont think our admin is that misguided to join without football in mind.

it does give us a broader exposure to recruits out of state. That’s big for basketball.

As a student it was pretty challenging to attend the Illinois State game because I didn’t know it was free until a few days before and many STEM courses (including PHY 7A, which is a nightmare) had their finals scheduled for Monday. The weekend was full of review sessions hosted by professors and TAs. This made it hard for me to attend and also for my friends. I’m glad I was able to go but it completely depended on the fact that I had been studying that morning.

hey another student! exactly my experience, and like the 15 people I reached out to about the game...

Can't help but think that if the Mountain West expands - and Football teams like Montana / Montana State, Sac State, Eastern, Portland State? NDSU/SDSU, USD/UND - there could be room for a two division MWC in Football in 10 years.

What caused our stadium construction delays?

I know that Dobbins Stadium was delayed due to gender equity politics, and was likewise reduced in scope.

It looks like men's basketball is also a prime player. (Coach Les was already the focus of one article.)

The UC dynamics have changed the past 20 - 30 years. The State funds a smaller portion of costs, and out of state along w international students (many from China) pay hefty fees to subsidize campus costs. International and OOS students pay tuition rates at double the standard fee.

Campus stats vary: one says student body is 10% international; another says we have 9,000 international students (50% of grad students?); and 5% from out of state.

Basketball benefits marginally. They didn't have to change conferences to be given more resources. They haven't shown any indication of having outgrown the Big West.

Sure, but when push came to shove they kept playing in the PAC right? Same thing.

when Aggie Stadium was built 2005-2007, construction costs were ballooning due to housing bubble, unprecedented building in China, and rebuilding the southeast after Hurricane Katrina. Also had high diesel and electricity prices which further drove concrete, steel, and earthmoving costs. The state budget was insolvent, which increased bond borrowing costs. Add in it was an unusually wet winter during earthmoving phase and the general contractor had no experience with stadium projects or the UCD building department. The contractor alleged the university struggled to make timely decisions, which may be true. But with nowhere to turn for more money, they probably had to go through multiple rounds of value engineering as costs escalated. And every time you redesign to save money, it costs design dollars plus time, which costs general conditions and inflation dollars. So unless you have intentionally placed items in a project that are easy to fall out, it can cost you $3 to try to save $1, so you actually need to find $4 of savings. Had the stadium project been a couple years earlier or later we might have have gotten a better deal, but hindsight 20/20.

“ As a student it was pretty challenging to attend the Illinois State game because I didn’t know it was free until a few days before and many STEM courses (including PHY 7A, which is a nightmare) had their finals scheduled for Monday. The weekend was full of review sessions hosted by professors and TAs. This made it hard for me to attend and also for my friends. I’m glad I was able to go but it completely depended on the fact that I had been studying that morning.”

Lordy does that bring back memories. I’m in my late 60s, and still have that nightmare of walking into 194chem and they were handing out finals that i forgot to study for. I hate that dream.

It bothers me that you guys (and gals) never knew that there were free tickets. Many of us bought student tickets which athletics was distributing. We’ve got to do better on that front as well as encouraging students to attend games. When i was a student there were pep rallies on the quad on the Friday before a game, the band-uh and cheer leaders were usually there, and i even remember Coach Sochor showing up. The Aggie would list games and have articles regarding who we were playing. Do they ever have pep rallies anymore?

If I remember correctly we had a pep rally at silo last year or 2 years ago? Was rad with the band and all!! I do think just basically saying “look free football game with good food, music, and venue every Saturday this fall” plastered all over social media and on campus through pep rallys, coach riding in golf cart saying free tickets, etc would help.

don't they have a rally at the stadium for all incoming students and the football team?

they have the welcome rally at the football stadium with the basketball team dancing at it, and then they have going to the first game on the orientations schedule.