the short answer is yes with regard to basketball. My conversations I’ve had UCSD is way ahead of the rest of the league with their basketball fundraising. For football, I think the donor population doesn’t crossover

I think that was a big part of the decision for St Mary’s to drop football. The return on investment in terms of public exposure is much better for basketball. Lots of eyes watching March Madness

Honestly for alt uniforms like the tahoe ones, I think a few that we could do over the years (from my random half-asleep brain this morning):
-An ag inspired one with that cool CA logo that has the wheat in its design
-A wine inspired uniform with some grape imagery under the logo on helmets (maybe could work with the grey uniform)
-TOMATO UNIFORM (the amount of tomatoes on yolo county roads during harvest is wild, I was driving my truck towards esparto last year and had 5 land on my windshield)
-Blue Ridge uniform inspired by the Berryessa gap

I don't see any designation for this sport or that sport. Have no trust that my money will go solely to football, but I'll keep diving into it.

Like the "Wine Grape Crushers?" That would be hilarious...I could see a foot on grapes as a logo...lol

Here you go:
https://ucdavisaggies.com/feature/champion-aggies-club

Definitely a slower burn than it should be. I think Plough for 10 more years puts us in a great spot. Talk about someone that can connect with alumni. He almost has a more zen and mature "Jason Eck effect" going on

If you designate football on your Champion Aggie donation, 100% goes to football. I’ve spoken to athletics about this very subject.
We need Sanford Weill to get interested ib UCD football :).

Finn, Champion Aggie. Just designate football as the recipient. Then enjoy the hospitality :).

If I received an email for a UC Davis Football Campaign for 1000 donors at $1000, and there was a hard deadline of say May 1st, 2026. I'd send $1000 to a link provided.

Fair, but the passion seems to be growing at a rate faster than our FCS and FBS peers. Coaches, players, fans, students of all ages are now more aware that UCD is a high value football brand on the West Coast. I coached in HS in the bay area for a bit, and every coach I encountered had nothing but respect for Davis (I didn't think they'd even know Davis existed). Once we reach critical mass (could be 5-10 more years of winning and producing NFL talent), things could get interesting. The only way to do that is to win and win repeatedly. We're 20+ years behind other Big Sky programs in the transition from D2 to D1 but gaining ground. There's no reason we can't get 1000 alumni donating $1000 each year. That's only $88 per month. My stupid streaming subscriptions surpass that for content I care less about..

This is absolutely the right perspective.

FTR, UCLA has lost $200 Million the past six years and may spend $60 - $80 Million to break the Rose Bowl lease.

Haha so true. In the military I'd be on deployments and I'd get asked which is the better UC...USC or UC Berkeley. LOL

I keep saying it....If we change our name to the Davis "Winemakers" or something like that, we instantly change our perception around the sports world. The unique name instantly differentiates us from Berkeley, UCLA, etc....instead of being known as the "commuter school" or the "cow school"...we start to get known as the "Wine making school"....which highlights our university as the best wine making program in the world....that is a VERY BIG Deal that we are not utilizing.

Remember, fair or not, its the perception that gets remembered.

Post of the Day. Wish he was my neighbor!

https://x.com/giana_jade/status/2016158163452461057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2016158163452461057%7Ctwgr%5Eeb9c1addff015dcf16eb448c7bdfb88fe4af00e9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.baltimoreravens.com%2Fnews%2Fteddye-buchanan-maryland-baltimore-snow-shovel-driveway-kids-neighbors-storm

It was USC. Davis scheduled Tulsa as a replacement where Davis got paid for winning.

Well...one thing Pinnick got from WSU.

I like the natural vibe. Perhaps some grape vines in keeping with the Ag theme?

truthfully we don’t have to have 500 people give $1000, I am fine with just 100-200 giving $1000-$1,500 but what I want is 5,000-7,000 alumni giving $200-$300 a year which is much more! Going to FBS can accomplish this. Already many of my colleagues are more interested in UCD Athletics just because we are moving to Mountain West and playing schools they know and respect.

I’ll be at the game. Hoping we win

If there is so much uncertainty why not just put it up for a vote. All those in favor of the Aggies moving up to the FBS level say so with a $1000 donation to the effort. In other words, put your money where your mouth is. Well you all know where this is probably going. I just don’t think it will fly to the tune of the Montana folks at least at this point. Economically the country is not going in the right direction now for a lot of discretionary spending. IMHO . Hope i could be wrong.

I vote for an Ivy covering of the brick.

Thanks for the perspective. My vote is to stay put and build this thing. Also predicting a national title in Davis by 2029...

North Dakota State-to-FBS talk has heated up even more in the past couple days. Let 'em go.

When UCLA was started as a campus they intentionally preferenced the initials over the full name because they didn’t want to be thought of as a branch of UC Berkeley. To this day they still stress using UCLA for most usages. As you say most people don’t get the connection to the UC system, or care. Mission accomplished.

Excellent. Thanks for sharing.

Good read, thanks for sharing. I didn't know his bio. Time at UMass is likely a great cautionary tale in his approach to moving football forward to the MWC. Lesson: DON'T DO IT UNTIL YOU'RE READY! We're not ready (yet). I'm also a proponent for investing in the people over buildings, including players, coaches, support staff. Oregon has had incredible facilities and a gazillion uniform combinations, but no national championships. Same at Texas (they've won a title in the last 50 years), Texas A&M, and a hundred other places. Indiana and Miami both invest in players/coaches, dwell in very pedestrian football buildings and facilities, and play for a title.

I think we also need to cover the concrete brick on the interior ring of the stadium with UCD colors so it doesn't look so much like a prison yard. Kind of like how behind each goal post there are blue pads on the brick. Maybe continue that all the way around or decal over it?

I like the idea of using Davis script on the football field.

I’m a fan of just using “Davis” whenever possible, especially in the context of sports. Unfortunately many people (not us on the board obviously) lump all the UCs together once you get past Cal and UCLA.

De-emphasizing the UC might help distinguish us from the other UCs. It could reduce the amount of times broadcasters refer to us as 'Cal Davis.', which bugs me- ha.

I feel we have finally gotten the helmets/uniforms correct after a lot years that weren't so great.
The Russell Athletic years were not great '06-'09. The early Adidas years 2010-2016 were an overall improvement.

Starting in 2017 we've gotten things straightened out. CA and script Davis on helmets all the way for me.
I don't see anyone straying from the athletics font, which seems to be unique to Davis, and most people seems to like.

Gold Davis script helmet, white jerseys, gold pants on the road for me. The team looks lean and fast in that look.

What should change is the University logo font UCDAVIS.

If we're voting, I prefer the script Davis and "lemon" logo on helmets, and the Block CA on water towers and other campus paraphernalia.

Santa Cruz got some pub from Pulp Fiction