The Gauchos come to town looking to end a two game losing streak - to Cal Poly at home and UC Riverside on the road. The Aggies may need to guard against a letdown following a tough win over Cal Poly on Thursday, and having beaten UCSB decisively in their early-season visit to the Thunderdome. First year head coach Renee Jimenez has the Gauchos playing well offensively, ranking 3rd in the Big West in scoring offense.

Fifth senior Aalyssa Marin (16.61 ppg.) leads UCSB and the Big West in scoring. Junior Skylar Burke and sophomore Zoe Porter add 10.5 and 9,4 ppg, respectively. Burke also leads the Gauchos in rebounding at 6.3 rpg, with redshirt junior center Laurel Rockwood adding 5.7 boards a game.. As a team, Santa Barbara is by far the Big West leader at 82.5%.

Beyond the Recap:
Kudos to Nya Epps who smothered Cal Poly's leading scorer, Annika Shah, as primary defender. Her teammates also did a great job when Epps was getting a rest and when switches occurred. Shah was 8 points below her average and far below her FGg & 3PT %-ages (3/13; 1/6).
Excellent defensive adjustments by coaching staff at halftime and execution by players. The Aggies shut down Sierra Lichtie, who had been hot in. the 1st half, as well as keeping the lid on Shah.
Clara Glad had a great defensive stint in the second half as well.

done!

For those looking to continue to support the show so we can keep it going during the off season please do! We have some good benefits for subscribers for those interested. We are going to have some bonus episodes and release episodes early to subscribers.

Become a subscriber here: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/ucdavisfootball/subscribe

Wow just logged on and seeing many good incoming transfers. We have def took a step this year. Very excitiing!

Games of Jan. 16:

UC Irvine (home, 16-2/6-0) 82, CSU Fullerton (5-14/0-7) 62
UC San Diego (15-3/5-1) 80, Long Beach State (home, 7-11/3-3) 54
CSUN (12-6/4-3) 83, Hawai’i (home, 11-6/3-3) 60
UC Santa Barbara (home, 12-5/4-2) 66, UC Riverside (10-8/3-3) 63

Only one surprise here and that was in Hawai`I, where the Rainbow Warriors couldn’t figure out how to keep the Matadors off the boards despite a big height advantage. I watched part of this game and Keonte Jones—the same guy who grabbed 20 against the Ags-- was jumping out of the arena. The top two teams continue to roll over the rest of the West. The Tritons held Devin Askew (who got 32 against the Ags last week) to 11 points in their mauling of the Beach at the Pyramid, while UCI didn’t allow a single Titan player to score more than 10. Those two teams play defense.

About 21:00 - Larison had a 'tightrope' surgery for a high ankle sprain, which speeds recovery. Plough thinks 6-8 players will get a look.

I feel bad for Cal Poly because their next game against UCI means they will set a new record. On the other hand, it was good to see the Ags shooting improve in the second half and hope it bodes well for UCSB. They really held the Mustangs with their defense. I mean 20 turnovers! Koonce only got 6 points and I can't helkp but think that Coach Les must have told his guys to clamp down on him. I noticed how quick they were to switch on him and how even the guards kept him from getting good looks.

First episode of 2025 is live! We grade the games and relive the first year of the POD and the epic season for the Ags.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0KhDsoNBqtM6bSkEcZryWT?si=SObglPFxRsmYBGvQ9J036A

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aggie-pride-a-uc-davis-football-podcast/id1758625363?i=1000684226433

"finding joy" is Plough's mantra so it tracks

I thought so, since I read the brief as well.

Sam Herder did a statiscal breakdown of FBS to FCS transfers. Basically 1/3 will be really good, 1/3 will be ok and 1/3 will be not good. Life

FWIW, Jimmy Roger's left SDSU to become the HC at WSU after back to back title runs.

Well, we know where Davis is going, the show now is seeing where Sac lands!

I don’t mean this as a insult to Sac but if the Pac12 is having to grab a FCS school to be fill out it’s football obligation, they are a bit desperate. Any FCS school.

New offer on JUCO WR Link Rhodes 6'1 205 and boasts a 4.33 40 time. Could by a dynamic WR for the Ags!

WBB: Cal Poly (8-8,3-3) at UC Davis (11-5, 5-1), Thursday, Jan. 16 at 6:00 PM

Davis will look to regroup and bounce back against the up and down Cal Poly Mustangs after losing at Long Beach last Saturday. CP comes in with momentum - two straight close game wins in their last two outings, and knowing they played the Aggies close at home to open conference play. Second year coach Shanele Stires teams, both at Cal Poly and previously at CSU East Bay, typically play an aggressive man-to-man defense and run an up-tempo offensive scheme.

Leading scorers for the Mustangs are senior Annika Shah (14.6 ppg.) and Mary Carter (11.9 ppg.) a sophomore from Sacramento’s Antelope HS. Sierra Lichee, also a sophomore, paces Cal Poly on the boards with 6.9 rpg., followed by Carter 6.1 rpg. As a team, Cal Poly is 2nd in the BW in 3-pt percentage, and 3rd in 3-pt defense, just behind the Addies in both categories.

Hey there! Awesome to hear. The Aggie football team had a big year and I followed pretty closely. No football @ UOP (I was a frosh for the final season in 1995 -- RIP Pacific Football) so I enjoyed keeping up with UCD football and I'm friends w/ a few alums/former players.

I live in San Diego and when Pacific hired a new men's basketball coach, I decided to go to the home opener on the 1st Monday in November. I flew to Sac on Saturday morning so I could catch the Aggies football game vs. Northern Colorado @ 1 p.m. and my good pal, Chris Saur scooped me up and we went to the game. That was a blast because I'd never been to the "new" stadium. Went to many games @ The Toom, specifically during the J.T. O'Sullivan years, but this was a first for me. We had a great time, the Ags romped and we hit the old watering holes after for a victory lap for the 5th Quarter.

Jim Les is one heckuva coach. As long as the Ags aren't playing my Tigers, I always root for them. I was crushed when they lost to The Beach in the conference final last year. The league is pretty good at the top this year, so the Ags have work to do, but keep the faith.

I think the biggest news in Aggie land has been the possibility of football to the mountain west. What are their thoughts on that potential move and what hurdles/obstacles do we need to get over to make it happen.

I’m going to miss seeing the Larison and Hasting clans at the games!

Interviews set to take place this week with Dalton Turay and Todd Sloat of the Football Collective and Bob Larison, Lan’s Dad. Send your questions!

The Pepper Effect?

Welcome back, ccuop99. I hope you'll stay around and join in our conversations about Aggie sports. There a lot of exciting things in the works for the future of Aggie Athletics and the activity in our forum has gone way up this year. By the way, I think Pacific and the Ags should be playing each other every year in basketball too.

I like under-the-radar guys. I didn’t go to UC Davis because people told me I could. I went because people told me I couldn’t. Those are the kids you want on your team.

his BA/MA from Sac State, PhD from Arizona State and was a professor at San Diego State. His major was Ethnic Studies and his thesis involved interviewing 28 college students where he identified themes such as focus, family, motivation, employment, attendance, and completing homework as important factors to success of minority students. I’m not saying social sciences are unimportant but come on the premise of this thesis is kind of like asking 28 people if the world is still round. How would that defense go any way other than golf clapping in an echo chamber? The Wood brothers seem like narcissistic self-promoters who thrive on suspense and drama. They have found a successful business model to peddle this, so good for them I suppose. Though it is probably more appropriate for Six Flags to tease next season’s new ride than a university president. His thin-on-specifics braggadocio reminds me of someone else. I bet I could draw him into a twitter debate on hand size.

Agreed that we need to be ready to answer the call when it comes and I think it's going to come sooner rather than later. I still think that our move to the MW in all other sports is a clear indicator that football will follow given appropriate facilities and financial upgrades. Hopefully we will get an announcement about CONCRETE developments from Rocko. That seems to largely be how he operates outside of his stadium rendering tweet.

A huge game for both teams Saturday afternoon at Walter Pyramid. The winner will have the early pole position in the race for the BW regular season championship and the automatic bid to the WNIT that comes with that. UCD and LBSU are a close 1-2 in offensive output (4.0 ppg difference), while the Aggies have a significant edge in scoring defense, giving up 54.6 ppg to the Beach’s 69.2 ppg. Davis leads in almost all shooting categories, both offensively and defensively, but Long Beach the advantage in steals, forcing turnovers, and particularly on the offensive glass, leading to an additional 8 more possessions per game than Davis earns in these categories. With a Thursday bye, LBSU is well-rested and has had a week to prepare for the Aggies.

Savannah Tucker (14.8 ppg), and Jada Crenshaw (11.3 ppg) lead the Beach in scoring. Seven players grab 5 or more rebounds per game, lead by Rachel Loobie at 7.1 rpg..