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

That fall that Stokes told was scary — DrMike

He smacked his forehead hard on the floor as he came down and, apparently, suffered a laceration. I hope he didn't suffer a concussion. That could keep him out of Thursday's game with Hawai'i and we need his toughness on the floor.

Standings as of 2/21:

From Gauchodan's Big West Substack column:

2:00 PM: UC Davis at UC Riverside — The Aggies (16-11, 9-7) missed a chance to move into a top 4 spot in the Big West, blowing a 16-point halftime lead in a heartbreaking loss at Cal State Fullerton. Nils Cooper ended a 5-game single-digit scoring streak with 26 points. UC Davis finishes its final Big West season with 3 out of 4 on the road, but 2 of those away tilts are at teams currently out of the Big West Tournament field (UCR, Long Beach State). The Highlanders (9-19, 4-12) have been a tough out lately, having lost 5 games since Jan. 24 by 8 points or less. UC Riverside took out its frustration on CSU Bakersfield Thursday night in a dominant 93-65 victory. Andrew Henderson is averaging 17.8 points per game for Riverside.

All other games here:

https://bigwesthoops.substack.com/p/unguarded?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2973109&post_id=188695011&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=31ratq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

I missed the post-game interview with Les but, based on his past interviews with disappointing loses like this, he would probably be quite upset with our second half defense. Allowing Fullerton to shoot 71.4% and score 57 points in the 2nd half and 93 total would not make for a pleasant post-game locker room with Les...

The Ags led the whole game until the last 19 seconds. Gotta give Fullerton credit. They shot 71.4% in the second half while scoring 57 points. That's was truly a "lights out" second half for them.

How about Poly knocking off Irvine, Santa Barbara and Hawai'i in their last 3 games!

I don't think the refs cost us the game either. I just hate how often the offensive player initiates the contact into the defensive player and, 8 times out of 10, the defensive player gets called for a block. It seems to me that there is an unequal "bias" by the officials in favor of offensive play that often makes it really difficult for teams to play great defense.

This officiating crew has no idea what an offensive foul is. How many times did a Fullerton player charge into an Aggie, throw a shoulder or an elbow and the officials would call a blocking foul on the Ags again and again. That and Les having the team start milking the clock way too early had a lot to do with this loss. We gave up 57 points in the second half so our defense did not travel to this game.

On the brighter side Cooper had a great game and was back in the starting lineup and Suljanovic is improving with every game.

From public broadcast CapRadio Sacramento:

The State Hornet initially published this story. The State Hornet is Sacramento State's independent student-run news publication.

By: Jack Dann

Two days ago, it was announced that Sacramento State would join the Mid-American Conference beginning in the 2026 season, becoming the first West Coast university to join college football’s highest division since 1969.

Today, the deal becomes official, and for President Luke Wood, it’s a major step in his ambitious goals for the university.

“We made a different offer to the MAC than we did to other conferences, because of the media value that they represented,” Wood said. “It’s the media exposure, MACtion is on ESPN, and it allows us to go from local broadcasts to national broadcasts on a regular basis.”

The MAC, known for their mid-week “MACtion” football games, presented a lucrative FBS option and significant exposure that goes beyond just athletics. The deal extends five years, per the official release from the MAC.

“It’s a $675 million media valuation, so over the five-year agreement we have, we go from where we’re at right now to that $675 million media valuation,” Wood said. “The exposure of the university on a national stage has a significant increase on the value of a Sac State degree. You have students who will graduate from Sacramento State, and their degree will be worth more in the marketplace.”

As is typical for schools that move conferences, Sac State will forgo media revenue for five years, a shorter period than seen for North Dakota State’s recent move to the Mountain West.

Sac State will also cover the air travel of visiting teams and pay $6 million of the $18 million dollar fee in the first year, per Ross Dellenger at Yahoo Sports. During the five years, Sac State aims to pay off their $18 million buy-in, plus the standard $5 million FBS entry fee.

“None of this is being paid by student fees, tuition or by the general fund,” Wood said. “All of this is being primarily paid for by game guarantees. As an FBS school, we can get $1 million to $1.5 million per game. Sam Houston was paid $1.5 million to go play Oregon State and beat them at home.”

With game guarantees and major increases to game revenue, Wood put it simply: “Football is paying for football.”

With the move, the campus expects major upgrades to Hornet Stadium as a new stadium is planned and built at Cal Expo.

“It’ll be an updated Hornet Stadium for the next two years,” Wood said. “As a part of our agreement with the MAC, we are making [Hornet Stadium] FBS-ready. We’re adding a new locker room for the visiting team and end zone seating that makes the stadium more wraparound.”

The Hornets had games scheduled in the event that they played the upcoming season as an FCS independent, but will abandon those games in favor of the new conference schedule, with one exception.

“In all of our agreements that we had, it was noted that if we became FBS, we would be released from that contract,” Wood said. “In all those cases, that was done with the exception of Fresno State, which is a preseason game and one we absolutely plan to keep.”

Sac State won’t be eligible for postseason football right away, although a waiver to avoid that isn’t off the table. When that ineligibility is lifted, the goal is clear.

“By 2028, I absolutely expect us to be competing for a conference championship and playing in our first bowl game,” Wood said.

https://www.capradio.org/articles/2026/02/17/sacramento-state-officially-joins-the-mid-american-conference/