University of the Incarnate Word from San Antonio, TX, beginning their first full-on season in D-1 (FCS-Southland Conference) . Went 3-8 last year. Currently 0-2 after traveling to Fresno State (66-0 loss) and Slack (56-22 loss) in the last two weeks.

When people ask me why UCD left D-II I always begin with "DII left UCD." Not entirely true, of course; UCD was growing faster than D-II, but also D-II and small college football were dying in the West. Money in general, travel costs particularly in light of the distance between schools in the west.....

HSU and Azusa Pacific are affiliated football-only members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Along with Central Washington, Western Oregon and Simon Fraser (of Canada) they are the sum and substance of the football part of the GNAC. To get a season they play each other conference opponent home and away and then scramble for games. HSU started with an "exhibition" game against CETYS Universidad of Tijuana, MX.

[Insert Trump/Wall joke here]

Way, way back, Humboldt State was a small college power. According to legend they did well because players found nice jobs in the lumber industry. Those days are gone. I guess the current cash crop in Redwood Country doesn't fill the void.

Water polo got off to a bad start in Berkeley, falling behind 4-0 before getting a score. Final was 15-10, Cal. San Jose State in the home opener this weekend.

Last year all the Hornet women could manage in Causeway Cup competition was tie in soccer. The Hornet women's last win over Davis was in softball in March of 2016.

The Causeway Cup pages have not been updated for this season, but I THINK the next competition is women's soccer, at Davis, next Monday.

Went 3-1 at the Triton Invitational with loss to #8 Long Beach State followed by victories over Air Force, #13 UCI and #12 UCSD. Tough one tonight at they travel to always powerful and defending NCAA champ Cal.

(Somewhere somehow sometime someplace someone will say the university should not take money generated by big oil.)

Tell my kids. I'm usually not correct until sometime after Labor Day.

[ Psst: I think that's the ACC/BIg Ten (14) or the SEC/Big 12 (10). ]

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/article151321302.html

Great year for the Ags in the Causeway Cup Competition. (If points were still allotted like they used to be, with 10 points each for football, volleyball and men's and women's basketball, it would have been 82.5 points and a 70 point margin.)

Finals:
Men: Notre Dame College 40, UCD 20
Women: UCD 27, Notre Dame College 19.

In Women's D-1, the equivalent of Men's D-1AA, UCD defeated Central Florida in one semi-final today while Notre Dame College defeated Stanford in the other. UCD women will meet Notre Dame College women Saturday for the D1 Spring Championship.

That means UCD will play Notre Dame College in both the Men's D1AA final and the Women's D1 Spring Final, both games to be played at the campus of Life College. Go Ags! Beat the Falcons, twice!

So the 2016 Causeway Cup comes to an end with the track teams splitting a dual meet. The women won, 110-81, and the men lost, 102-89.

Final overall points: UCD 65, CSUS 15.

I referenced a snarky thought earlier....and as luck would have it, my uncharitable thought has come back to bite me, even though it had never been uttered until now. That thought was that not only did the Ags dominate, but (until Sac won the men's track,) the Hornets had not even won a single sport outright. The women tied in soccer and the men split in soccer, golf and baseball.

I have another snarky observation, but don't want to jinx the track team, so I will keep it to myself for now.

Aggie men's golf finished at El Macero in 4th place, 17 strokes ahead of 9th place Slack. Ben Corfee, who grew up next to the El Macero course, was the top overall individual.

Causeway Cup points now at 60-10 with men's and women's track in two weeks.

As of this moment, the morning of April 14, the Aggie website shows the men’s golf points as being split between the tournament in Arizona earlier this week, where Slack beat UCD by two strokes, and the tournament at El Macero which is being played yesterday and today. The UCD site has yet to be updated for the earlier golf tournament and for Tuesday’s baseball loss, but suggests there are 5 points to be awarded for each golf meet, probably “alternate facts.”

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/ot/Causeway-Cup-1617.html

The CSUS site also shows the two tournaments, but reflects Slack’s victory in Arizona, and awards 2.5 points, which makes more sense.

http://www.hornetsports.com/fan_info/causewaycup/2016-17

On the bright side, after two rounds yesterday the Ags are in second place, 11 strokes ahead of the 9th place Hornets, with one round to be played today. Aggie golfer Ben Corfee is currently tied for first atop the individual results.

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-golf/recaps/041317aaa.html

Despite a one hitter, Slack won today's baseball game, 1-0. Running score is now 57.5 to 7.5. A little too close for comfort.

Men's golf finished 5th, two stroke behind Slack, at a tournament in Arizona. Unclear if this counts in the Causeway Cup standings. It has not been there previously, but is now listed, along with 5 possible points, as is the Aggies' own tournament at El Macero later this week.

My work here is done.