I have always felt that our AD's have led UC Davis Athletics with integrity and a commitment to ideals that Davis Athletics has always embraced. Rocko's statement is a testament to that. As he stated, there will always be room for learning and improving but, one thing that I will never doubt, is the integrity and honesty of his decisions. He is, as are the athletes, coaches and staff, a great example of Aggie Pride.

England 2 Norway 1
Argentina 3 Switzerland 1

The semi-final matches are now set and these should be some great games between these 4 world soccer powers:

Spain vs France at 12 noon on Tuesday, July 14.
Argentina vs England at 12 noon Wednesday, July 15.

I have my doubts about all this speculation about of moving to FBS in 2029 as well.

I previously commented about the negative effect of Trump influencing the FIFA president to overturn the red card given to the American striker and how it outraged the teams and fans of other countries. Bob Dunning wrote a column about Trump putting his thumb on the scale and one of the comments from a reader of his article was very telling about what fans from other countries were feeling about the USA.

The reader wrote that she and her husband watched the USA vs Belgium game in a pub in Sidney, British Columbia, with about 60 other Canadians and not a single one of them was rooting for the Americans. Of course, Trump had already pissed off most Canadians with tariffs and his comments about making them our "51st state" among other insults so this was just more salt on the wound.

https://www.thewaryone.com/p/trump-draws-a-red-card-not-eligible/comment/290602054

I saw that the ticket prices dropped significantly after the USA and Mexico were eliminated but still expensive.

Spain advances to the semifinals with a 2-1 win over Belgium.

His own post on X says he is 6'3 260 with 11" hands and 14 D1 offers and a 4.4 GPA but 247 Sports shows him as 6'2 230.

This sports writer is picking the Ags to finish in 7th place in the MW this season:

7. UC Davis

Last season: 19-14, 11-9 (tied for sixth place in Big West)

2026-27 outlook: The Aggies have been a solid Big West team in recent seasons, going 72-58 overall and 45-38 in the Big West the last four years. But things will be more challenging in the MW. UC Davis has not financially invested in basketball at a high level, which is required in the new NIL era. The Aggies retained Connor Sevilla (13.3 ppg, 39.9 3PT%), Brayden Fagbemi (7.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.0 spg), Jalen Stokes (4.7 ppg), Isaiah Chappell (8.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and Omer Suljanovic (5.6 ppg) this offseason, which gives the team five solid players. UC Davis also added Tennessee transfer Clarence Massamba, a former four-star recruit. But depth and size are an issue for coach Jim Les, who will get the most out of his talent but is likely to be at a talent deficit as the Aggies transition to the MW.

Whole article here: https://nevadasportsnet.com/news/reporters/offseason-mountain-west-basketball-power-rankings-new-hope-with-powers-off-to-the-pac-12

An FCS National Championship during those year's would make the time go by a whole lot quicker!

France wins the first game of the quarterfinals 2-0 over rival Morocco. France is looking very, very strong.

You would think they would need to have the expansion done by 2029 if we are indeed going to be FBS by 2029 as some people are reporting.

Comments from Aggie RB commit, Eli Dukes, who chose the Aggies over Cornell, Dartmouth, Yale, Oregon State, California, Stanford, Princeton, Northern Arizona, and Navy.

“The trajectory of the program is what led me to commit to Davis! They're joining the FBS in 2029, with the chance of winning FCS national championships before then. As well as the plan they had for me, playing early and playing a big role early was also big for me. I love the coaches, the offense, and I think the program is going to make history, and I want to be a part of that.”

"They also showed how they are going to FBS in 2029 and joked about the Mountain West, even potentially the Pac-12. I was able to meet with running back Jordan Fisher, and it was great to pick his brain and hear his thoughts on the school and his goals.”

“Recruiting has been very good. I’ve talked to a lot of big schools, and there were a lot of other offers I haven’t even posted, mostly because I was happy with what I had and my options.”

Whole SI article here: https://www.si.com/college/fcs/big-sky/3-star-salinas-ca-rb-eli-dukes-commits-to-uc-davis-football

Wow!

“The trajectory of the program is what led me to commit to Davis! They're joining the FBS in 2029, with the chance of winning FCS national championships before then. As well as the plan they had for me, playing early and playing a big role early was also big for me. I love the coaches, the offense, and I think the program is going to make history, and I want to be a part of that.”

"They also showed how they are going to FBS in 2029 and joked about the Mountain West, even potentially the Pac-12. I was able to meet with running back Jordan Fisher, and it was great to pick his brain and hear his thoughts on the school and his goals.”

“Recruiting has been very good. I’ve talked to a lot of big schools, and there were a lot of other offers I haven’t even posted, mostly because I was happy with what I had and my options.”

I've noticed a couple of things when looking for recruiting news by the Aggies. Verbalcommits.com is slow to update the changes in affiliation in the Big West and the Mountain West. They are now showing Sac State and Cal Baptist recruiting in the Big West but are still showing Hawaii and the Aggies in the BW also.

When looking at the MW, they are still showing Fresno State and others who are moving to the PAC12 and they have not added the Aggies or Hawaii to that conference yet. I have also noticed that the teams in the MW are making offers to lots of HS juniors and younger players even an occasional freshman. I imagine that we'll have to adapt to that strategy as well and begin creating relationships with younger HS players and their families in order to keep pace the other schools in the conference. This will most certainly take more time and money for us to begin doing the same to help stay competitive recruiting in the MW.

https://www.verbalcommits.com/conferences/mountain-west

All kickoff times are listed in Pacific Time below:

Aug. 29, at Portland State*, 12:00 p.m.
Sept. 5, at San Diego, 7:00 p.m.
Sept. 12, at SMU, 1:00 p.m.
Sept. 19, STETSON, 7:00 p.m.
Sept. 26, MONTANA*, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 3, EASTERN WASHINGTON*, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 17, at Southern Utah*, 5:00 p.m.
Oct. 24, NORTHERN COLORADO*, 4:00 p.m.
Oct. 31, at Weber State*, 12:00 p.m.
Nov. 7, UTAH TECH*, 4:00 p.m.
Nov. 14, at Idaho*, 1:00 p.m.
Nov. 21, CAL POLY*, 1:00 p.m.

HOME GAMES IN ALL CAPS
* Denotes Big Sky Conference game

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2026/7/7/football-announces-2026-start-times.aspx

I grew up in the heat and humidity in Indiana and all we had was a fan in the window. It was miserable but it was all I knew back then.

The same problem exists at the Aggie football stadium. The sun shines directly into the eyes of the fans on the east side and bakes them with no shade. It's a problem that has no easy fix.

Heaven forbid that we get another weather related fiasco like we did last year against Mercer!

97 degrees in Portland in September is mind boggling to think of but that's the world we live in now with rapidly escalating climate change. Hopefully, it won't be that hot this year but, if it is, the experience may help the us manage playing in the extreme heat and humidity that we'll surely be playing in on September 12th at 1 pm in Dallas against SMU.

Argentina storms back from a 2-0 deficit with goals in the 79th, 84th and 2 minutes into the 2nd half stoppage time. Magnificent Messi tied the game in the 84th minute with his 21st goal in World Cup play and he was in tears at the end of this game.

Switzerland eliminated Columbia on penalty kicks 0-0 (4-2 shootout).