The roster has a freshman, class of 2023, linebacker, Aaron Shebloski, a walk on, committed in May.
He has a link to a video on his twitter page of him doing 3000 pushups in a day when he was 16. Has a lot of personality.

Pray for no smoke.

We have a transfer from Nebraska Cornhuskers i just noticed on the roster, an offensive lineman, sophomore, has been with Nebraska 3 seasons, walked on at Nebraska, no game action. If i read the tournament bracket pdf right he was third in the Nebraska state high school wrestling championship in the 285lb class. Eli Simonson, 6’6, 295.
Wrestling story from 2020 senior high school year.
https://www.ketv.com/article/eli-s-coming/31070664#

Picked sixth in their conference, which has some good teams , Incarnate Word and S.E. Louisiana at the top. Statistically they had the top defense in the conference. They retained most of the defense staff, and feel good about their defense, with few holes to plug.
They have a new coach, Clint Dolezel, an alum, whose background is mostly Arena Football. His offensive coordinator is also a former Lion QB and several of his assistants have Arena football in their background.
They brought in 20+ Freshmen and 13 transfers.
Certainly a hard team to scout for the first game.
Their coach on Southland Conference Media day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DCUjp64SC8

On the other hand, with the exception of Weber, all our conference road games are against teams not expected to be contenders. Could result in an impressive record if they avoid upsets.

A lot of changes this year in the Big Sky. Among contenders, Weber and Sac both have new head coaches and new QBs, Montana will have a new QB. Weber lost 6 players as transfers to FBS, most going to BYU. Idaho lost 5 players to FBS schools, including two linebackers and a defensive tackle, that has got to hurt. I think the coaches ranked Davis highly because they have an established system, didn't lose many players, and have experienced replacements for the ones they lost.

The opening opponent, Texas A&M commerce fans had a podcast about UC Davis as an opponent.

https://thelionwire.com/2023/05/25/the-lion-wires-call-the-roll-podcast-a-way-too-early-2023-lion-football-preview-uc-davis/

Pretty much as you would expect. A of time talking about Coach Hawkins in Colorado. They realize we have some explosiveness on offense. They thought the August temperature in Davis might occasionally reach 90 degrees. They had a table of the mean temperature which was a pleasant 73 degrees, but they don’t know it cools off at about 9:00PM when the cool air finally makes it up the river. I’m sure its hotter and more humid in Texas, but if it is desired to practice in the heat you have no trouble finding hot days in Davis. Before expecting Davis to wilt, they might check out the end if the Tulsa game. Of course they don’t have air conditioning in the visitor clubhouse.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/sports/football/roster/gaven-cooke/17403

No way this predicts seeds. It may try to predict the eight best teams, but the seedings are still influenced by a great record. Example, Delaware is ranked #20, with a 10-1 record and the only loss to an FBS team. 10-1 Delaware would be seeded above a 7-4 UC Davis that was fifth in the Big Sky.

Three players, Gaven Cooke, Michael Ingrassia, and Matteo Perez were teammates at Marin Catholic

Finally have updated roster, its still a work in progress, but we can see who is on the team.
We have a wide receiver transfer from Iowa Hawkeyes. He is Gaven Cooke a QB/RB/Safety from Marin Catholic High School, who walked on at Iowa and is now a redshirt sophomore in terms of eligibility.
Lyric Fata, who was a good recruit in 2022, but must have found something interesting to do last year is on the roster as an outside linebacker, out of Mater Dei.

Another who played for Biggs Demario Warren Former Head Coach Southern Utah, now Cornerbacks / Special Teams Coach Boise State

Gale is now listed at 240 lbs, up from 209, one of the few updates they’ve made to the roster.

They haven't updated the roster since before spring practice.
No text in the bios about 2022.
The roster lists some players who graduated and won’t be back.
Would you believe none of our true freshmen in 2022 redshirted ? I don’t.

Hero Sports preview.

https://herosports.com/fcs-2023-uc-davis-football-preview-bzbz/

I think our team has good depth, which doesn’t really show in previews which focus on returning all conference players. We lost most heavily on the offensive line, tight end and defensive back. But there and elsewhere we return guys who’ve had playing time.

We can see what a five star recruit qb looks like when Davis plays Cal Poly, assuming he can earn the job. Sam Huard couldn't get playing time in Washington in two years. I bet he’s mobile and has a good arm.

Lost his job to a guy who transferred from Iowa State. Big guy 6-5 240.
South Dakota only beat Cal Poly in their first 6 games with Camp and he was pulled just before halftime trailing 21-7 in game 7 against a ranked opponent and his sub won the game.
Bouman “completed 80-of-132 passes for 892 yards and eight touchdowns against one interception … also ran for two touchdowns … threw 106 passes before his first interception”

Obviously he transferred for playing time, But Sac gets a guy who is a proven high caliber qb with three years of experience playing at a high level and he is just a junior!

They lost to Washington State by 7.
Its easy to look at a team Davis has defeated four in a row and not think they’re any good. But there they are ranked in all these polls.

Idaho was a quality team, ranked 15 when the game was played.