The Aggies have announced Cody vonAppen as the new Special Teams Coordinator. He comes to Davis from Cal Poly where he was the Defensive Coordinator since 2022. Taylor Chapatte will return to his primary role of Tight Ends Coach. Chapatte held both positions last year.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2026/2/26/football-welcomes-cody-vonappen-as-special-teams-coordinator.aspx

:rofl:

2/28 final scores:

Hawai'i 87 Fullerton 85
Riverside 95 CSUN 79
Long Beach 88 Bakersfield 87
Irvine 64 Santa Barbara 60

Current Standings:

Saturday 2/28 games:

Hawai'i @ Fullerton - 4 pm
CSUN @ Riverside - 5 pm
Long Beach @ Bakersfield - 6:30 pm
Cal Poly @ San Diego - 7 pm
Santa Barbara @ Irvine 7:30 pm

Hawai'i simply manhandled, or should I say "womanhandled," the Ags last night. They were the more physical and aggressive team with superior height also. It didn't help that the Ags were ice cold shooting for most of the first half either. The Ags only scored 9 points in the first quarter and all 9 points were scored by Nya Epps...that was a bad omen from the get go...

The Big West is always very competitive and this year it is especially so. Yes, were are currently in 7th place but look at that log jam in the middle of the standings. A lot can still happen in this free-for-all.

We were within 2 points of 1st place Hawai'i last night with 24 seconds left in the game so we have shown that we can play with any team in the conference. Great effort by the Ags playing without Jalen Stokes and Nils Cooper. Omer Suljanovic, a true freshman that is improving with every game. went out with an injury last night also. We've got a week to, hopefully, heal up before our final 2 road games.

Ags get thumped 67-46.

42-33 Hawai'i at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Ags trail 30-20 at the half plagued by cold shooting...including only 2 of 13 from 3.

Standings as of 2/26:

43-31Hawai’i at the half. We’re really missing the defense of Stokes and Cooper. Bows are shooting 59%.

The Ags lost to Cal 7-2. The Aggies had only 2 hits and are now batting .184 as a team through their first 8 games.

From Gauchodan's Big West Hoops Substack column:

6:00 PM: Hawai’i at UC Davis — The Rainbow Warriors (19-7, 11-5) begin their final Big West road trip, and it may be their toughest yet. Hawai’i, which has split each of its previous 4 forays to California in conference play, may need to sweep UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton to remain at least tied for the Big West lead heading into the final week. Dre Bullock has averaged 21.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals over the last 2 games. The Aggies (17-11, 10-7), also leaving for the Mountain West Conference at the end of the season, are playing their final home game of the 2025-26 season. UC Davis finds itself in a 3-way tie for 4th place and would win the tiebreaker for a 1st-round bye if the season ended this morning. Connor Sevilla is averaging 15.0 points over the last 3 games and has made 35 of his last 37 free throw attempts (.946).

Other games tonight:

Riverside @ Santa Barbara 6 pm
Long Beach @ Cal Poly 7 pm
Irvine @ CSUN 7 pm
Bakersfield @ San Diego 7 pm

All game summaries here:

https://bigwesthoops.substack.com/p/final-countdown?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2973109&post_id=189226039&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=31ratq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

[What Happened to the Group That Promised Sac State $50M in NIL?

The “Sac-12” has new leadership committed to offering financial support to Sacramento State—but not the $50 million originally dangled.

BY AMANDA CHRISTOVICH
FEB 19, 2026 | 01:50 PM

Sacramento State isn’t expecting that $50 million, given that donors promised those commitments only if they got the Pac-12 invitation, Sacramento State president Luke Wood told Front Office Sports in an interview Wednesday. But he isn’t concerned about its loss.

“Our community right now is rallying behind us,” he said, adding that “some of those commitments have already translated anyways even before we announced the MAC. So we’re starting to see those dollars come in already.”

Whole article here:

https://frontofficesports.com/what-happened-to-the-group-that-promised-sac-state-50m-in-nil/

This should really pump up the home game attendance! :yikes:

...and some added shade in August/September — AggieFinn

Shade, in any form, is absolutely critical and should be right up there with the top priorities. We all know that Aggie Stadium is an oven when the weather is hot and most of us have experienced how uncomfortable it can be. Aggie fans chase every bit of shade they can find including crowding together in the shadow of the scoreboard.

I can't even imagine how miserable it must be for the students sitting on the east side before the sun sets. Not only are they getting broiled but the sun is directly in their eyes. I'm not sure what can be done to help shade the east side though. Perhaps a second deck on the west side would help.

There needs to be more shade structures and trees outside the stadium also so fans can find shaded areas to tailgate.

[quote]5 reasons to worry about Luke Wood’s $23M Sac State-MAC football deal

Opinion By Tom Philp and LeBron Antonio Hill
February 23, 2026 5:00 AM[/quote]

Sacramento State has finally made it to college football’s elite level, the Football Bowl Subdivision, but only after reportedly agreeing to pay a huge price: $23 million.

So many questions linger about the deal the university made with the Mid-American Conference.
That is because the university has chosen to remain silent about many of the details. Simply put, there are many more questions than answers about what university President Luke Wood and Sac State just did.

Here are five reasons why the public should be skeptical:

Sac State is slow to provide the details

Wood’s agreement with the MAC is a public document for this public university, a formal agreement between this institution and another.

Yet, to our knowledge, nobody has been allowed to see it yet.

The university’s news release mentions an external economic analysis of this pact, which estimates tens of millions of dollars in benefits to the university, including increased exposure and game day revenue. But for now, the analysis remains top secret.

Separately, Wood on social media has said that various analyses are complete on how to convert the horse track and grandstand at Cal Expo into the Hornets’ new stadium. Again, no release of new and important information.

The university delays the inevitable by funneling requests for the documents under the California Public Records Act through a portal process that can take weeks and even months.

How can the institution get a historic deal done, one that changes the trajectory of the university, and not have public information at the ready

[quote]$23 million in fees, and $11 million due soon?[/quote]

North Dakota State, previously a second-tier team like Sacramento State in the Football Championship Subdivision, recently worked out a similar deal as Sac State to climb into the FBS. The Bison reportedly agreed to pay $12 million to join an FBS conference, the Mountain West.

The MAC apparently is requiring an all-too-willing Sacramento State to pay 50% more, $18 million. If you factor in the $5 million fee levied by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the total tab hits $23 million.

Paying MAC teams to travel to Sacramento

For lesser FBS teams like Sacramento State, a tried-and-true way to make some money is to play a superior team from another conference on the road. In exchange for the likely victory, the home team pays a so-called “guarantee” to the visiting team, often an amount exceeding $1 million.

Normally, this is an important revenue source for a college football team to offset expenses. Not for Sacramento State, however. The Hornets have agreed to pay off the $12 million balance of that $18 million entrance fee to the MAC with these guarantees.

This appears to be a first in college football history: a team volunteering to give up this key revenue source. It only adds to the mystery of how the university can afford what it’s doing.

Paying MAC teams to travel to Sacramento

On top of all these millions in new entrance payments, there is another new cost.

As yet another price of admission into the MAC, Sac State is apparently on the hook to pay the full travel costs of visiting teams, unfamiliar names in these parts like the Akron Zips, Central Michigan Chippewas and Kent State Golden Flashes.

These costs for a single game routinely run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Where is the campus support?

In all the testimonials gathered by the university to support the Feb. 16 announcement, there was an abundance of elected officials, alumni and business leaders.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article314778931.html#storylink=cpy

Note: The public comments to this article are all critical ranging from "release the documents today" to Replacement of Woods is in order" to "Can't wait to see the Hornets in Ypsilanti!"

I know the team wants to be in the NCAA but we'd likely draw a Top 10 team or even a Top 4 team with an very small chance of winning. There isn't a whole lot of parity in women's basketball and just a few teams are far and away better than all the rest. Is there a chance for a major upset, sure, but it's extremely unlikely. I'd rather see us win a few games in the WNIT than lose in a complete blowout.

Final score: Ags 13 Santa Clara 8