Great to hear AST.com on the Podcast!
I know my posts can come off critical (regarding the AD and FBS talk), but you are correct in that we all want UCD to be big-time.
As a founding member of AST.com waaaaay back when, I've enjoyed all the viewpoints here over the years. Your podcast is really important work, so keep it up.

The "Defensive Tackle Cackle" :lol:

Sac fans (all 7 of them) are absolutely delusional, as usual. There are a few over there with rational thoughts on this.....

They can hype it all they want, but UC Davis is in a stronger position in nearly every way on the FBS / stadium expansion thing, and its still a pipe dream (at this moment).

Please end the misery!

I'm pretty sure we aren't getting attendance from Sac residents that aren't Aggie alums. So we basically rely on Davis proper, Dixon, Vacaville, Fairfield and East Bay alums like me (?). It seems like slim pickings.....

I can't imagine Sacramento residents (who didn't go to Davis) picking UCD as their college football team of choice when Hornet Stadium in their backyard. So far we haven't won the Sac metro area, when Sac is in the middle of it, and we 'aint.

Who knows what the future may hold though!

I don't believe so. They finished 6-5
They started 0-3, losing to ASU, BYU and the Aggies in Davis.

I've never been down to SUU, but it seems like a tough roadtrip. The night games are in the dark, and it looks desolate.
Picking up a win down there is big, as is any road Big Sky road game.

Aside- SUU is a glutton for punishment with the FBS games:

2018: U of A and Oregon State
2021: ASU and SJSU
2022: Utah
2023: ASU and BYU
2024: Utah and UTEP

Gotta pay the bills, I suppose.

Well, he certainly isn't into BS'ing, that's for sure....haha. If he's any kind of coach, he'll build 'em up after laying in on them...but yeah, those kids had their tails tucked a bit...

I do think UC Davis has always been a sleeping giant at whatever level we've played in.
Its just been frustrating to always be that and not actually realize all the potential of an enormous student body and a huge endowment.

Hopefully all this realignment and upgrade talk boosts UC Davis to new levels.

The anticipated attendance jump and atmosphere/culture boost from playing at Toomey vs. Chico/Humboldt/Western Oregon/SMC to moving into a new stadium and playing D1 Big Sky schools like Montana / Montana State was negligible. The dream of becoming a Montana with a consistently packed house with a rabid fan base has yet to materialize.
And believe me, the argument was an important one at the time. So making the argument, again, that improving who we play is going to make this a football school is iffy.

If this were to ever happen, we'd be relying on our opponents and their fans to change our culture, because history shows the community/students just haven't been into it.

I want you to be right, but I haven't seen that in my 20 years following this program.
I've seen many important battles for playoff spots / conference implications vs. the biggest FCS names like Montana etc. draw 8-10k. Even the rare 12k is silent or gone early. You guys know what I'm talking about as players.

I'm just saying I'm not sure the community and student body is built for this stuff. If the AD is going to do this the culture needs to ramp up and change- football needs to be important to the community and students. This is definitely a "California" issue.
Aggie Stadium in 2007 and moving to the Big Sky didn't magically change this either (with bigger opponents and being D1)

*I'm trying to check myself here because I don't want to sound like a hater, but this all seems a very forced and on someone else's timing*

I cringe at the possibility of FSU showing us up at Aggie Stadium and making it a home game for them. I mean, it really could be ugly. Most of the teams mentioned as conference-mates travel very well.

AD really needs to think about stuff like this too......are we honestly ready to do this right now? Is the program strong enough in regard to fan/student support, etc?

I want nothing more than to see this happen. Just asking questions for the sake of discussion.

I think Sac and UCD are going to have a helluva time raising $50m + in within a couple years, let alone get the stadium upgrades built within that time. I mean, where is the temporary home for Aggie football? So many questions.


It took UCD 30 years to get Aggie Stadium built. Now that its there, hopefully major renovations would move more quickly

I love my alma mater very much, just as much as everyone else here.....but we have to be realistic.

This is standard UC Davis cart-before-the-horse stuff.

We draw 7-8k of the quietest fans in college football. We have the lightest and quietest student section of any large school in the country. With the underclassman population on campus alone, the entire east side of the stadium should be 100% full with the band-uh every game (when school is in).
The Athletic Department cant get apparel (free advertising) to fans/students. The Davis community isn't passionate about football.

Like I said earlier.....We were 30 years slow getting the stadium upgraded (including the Edwards Center which should have gone up with the new stadium 17 years ago) and moving to D1. I'm not seeing what has changed in all of this over the past couple of years to catapult us up a rung.

We honestly aren't alone on this....Cal has fought uphill for decades as well (on a different $ scale). Its tough in the UC system to advance one athletic program over the others.

I dunno man......up until yesterday there has never been enough money OR interest behind the program. If we are being honest, we barely got up to D1, and it took decades longer than it should have for the above reasons.
Has any of that changed since yesterday?

And to put things in perspective......the Tweet from the AD looks like a rendering from about 2004 that was recently edited. The field markings are the same from the original upgrade renderings.

I would love to see it all of this actually happen though.

Plough has mentioned chewing clock a few times. Maybe the conservative play calling reflects that?

Echoing you guys...
We are only 2 games in.
I am remaining optimistic. Perhaps Plough's first couple games as HC he's feeling things out. Maybe not showing the Big Sky everything before conference play. With Lan, while there is something to be said for "give it to the best player on the field" because he can beat everyone out there, it would be good to see more creativity.

I am concerned about the QB position though, unfortunately. To my eye there are physical limitations that are just going to be there, and it shows in the play calling.

Good news is the defense is plenty good enough to keep us in games while the offense hopefully figures things out.

I've emailed everyone imaginable in the past (over about 18 years). I never get any responses. I gave up.

Honestly, these people (whoever fills the campus stores) don't care about sports. And this shows by the track record.

They could sell a ton of this stuff. Students/fans love team apparel...anything with an Adidas logo that resembles what the teams where. This is very simple.
Just with parents/family of players, they would sell a lot of stuff.

I read someone on this board over the past couple of years someone said they were told something like "the team doesn't want the general public wearing their stuff"....(???)

This is so cool!
My kids and I did the campus tour last weekend. The guide mentioned "coffee class" often. This made me happy, as I love coffee.

Don't get me started on the lack of cool football apparel (and any other sports apparel) in campus stores.

Casual visitors would barely notice we have a D1 athletics program.
And I didn't find anywhere to buy apparel at the game last week either (unless I missed it)