I believe he played that season:

Aggies To Hold Reunion Game On Friday
Feb. 13, 2008
DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis will honor its 1998 men's basketball national championship team this week as part of a 10th anniversary weekend at The Pavilion. The events include a game Friday night featuring the 1998 championship team against other UC Davis alumni. The 1998 team will also be honored during halftime of the Aggies' contest against UC Santa Barbara Saturday night.
All but one of the 14 players on the 1997-98 UC Davis team will be playing in Friday's game. They include J.P. Bergez, Jason Cox, Scott Darmstadt, Justis Durkee,Brandon Laird, Travon Dugar Muhammad, current Aggie assistant coach Kevin Nosek, Dante Ross, Jon Surface, John Surina, Keith Jackson, J.C. Timmons and Chris Vlasic. Current Aggie administrative assistant Duane Kouba and Justin Clymo, who were both part of Williams' staff that year, will also be on hand.
https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2008/2/13/Aggies_To_Hold_Reunion_Game_On_Friday


First-year Menlo basketball coach Brandon Laird, a member of the 1998 UC Davis Div. II national champions, is as excited about his latest recruit as Lindsey is about the opportunity.
https://www.dailydemocrat.com/2007/06/01/a-transfer-worthwhile/


2000-2001 UC DAVIS VARSITY PLAYERS
BRANDON LAIRD , 6-2, 180, Senior Guard
2.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, .299 fg%, .254 3pt% , .818 ft%, 48 ast, 23 to, 13 stl in 1999-00
Played in 12 games in 1998-99
Played in 18 games in 1997-98
Agricultural and Managerial Economics Major, from Sacramento, CA
https://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~kouba/BallDIRECTORY/UCDGrads.html

FROM HIS BIO ON THE SAC STATE WEBSITE:
A graduate of UC Davis, Laird played four seasons with the Aggies (1997-01). During his four-year tenure, he appeared in 85 games and helped the Aggies to a combined record of 93-24, including a 31-2 mark in 1997-98 when they captured the Division II national title.
https://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbkb/coaches/lairdbrandon?view=bio



Cutting and pasting photos onto the Aggie Sports Talk site is beyond my skill set at the moment, but the following sites have photos of the championship team and Brandon is included:

1997-1998 UC DAVIS AGGIES 
NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL 
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

front row (left to right) : Keith Jackson, J. C. Timmons, Travon Dugar, Dante Ross, Brandon Laird, Kevin Nosek 
middle row (left to right) : Chris Unti (mgr.), Duane Kouba (asst. coach), Justin Clymo (student asst. coach), Bob Williams (head coach), Brian Fogel (asst. coach), Trevor Shickman (asst. coach), Omar Sanchez (mgr.) 
back row (left to right) : Justis Durkee, J. P. Bergez, Jason Cox, Rick Gonzales, Jonathan Surface, John Surina, Chris Vlasic, Scott Darmstadt
https://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~kouba/BallDIRECTORY/DIRECTORY96-98/Teampicture98.html

While post Justis Durkee bears guard Dante Ross on his shoulders and wing Scott Darmstadt peeks around Durkee for a look, the rest of the UC Davis men's basketball team flanks former head coach Bob Williams. To Williams' (with microphone) right are Jason Cox (smiling),Brandon Laird (holding plaque), J.C. Timmons (in the forefront of Laird), Jonathan Surface and Chris Vlasic (to Timmons' right).
Photo by Wayne Tilcock / Aggie
From the California Aggie, Friday April 3, 1998
https://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~kouba/BallDIRECTORY/DIRECTORY96-98/Title.html

UCD players from the 1998 Division II national title-winning squad celebrate a win during that postseason run. The players include Chris Vlasic (55), Travon Dugar (23), John Surina (30) and current Aggie assistant coach Brandon Laird. UCD is celebrating 100 years of men’s basketball with activities on Saturday and alumni from throughout the program’s history will be in attendance. Mark Bullard/Enterprise file photo
https://www.davisenterprise.com/uncategorized/ucd-men-to-celebrate-100-years/

Brandon grew up in the Arden area and went to El Camino High School. Attended UCD and was a freshman, I think, on the D-II national championship team. There is a rumor that he got some mop-up playing time in an early game at the D-II Elite Eight tournament...went in and immediately fouled someone so that he got his name in the record books. May or may not be true, but a good story.

His brother, Sean, also went to El Camino and went on to become a quarterback at St. Mary's College.

Slack State has a better record at the Golden 1 than the Kings do.

Somebody needs to revoke Coach Laird's UCD Alumni Ass'n membership. If we talked politics here I'd say AINO, Aggie In Name Only,....but we don't, so I won't.

This may be the last refuge of the Causeway Cup....UCD has not updated the page on their website since the 2019-2020 season ground to a halt. Sac last updated their site in 2017-18 and I cannot find any hint of it at all on their current site. Too bad for Sac...if we were still counting by the initial rules, when volleyball, football and the basketball games were worth ten points, the score would be tied at 30-30. As it is, with all sports being worth five points and after the split in basketball, UCD leads 25-15.

Next up would seem to be gymnastics, but I am not sure which meets might count, again assuming the whole "competition" hasn't been dropped altogether. The teams meet in a quadruple meet in Davis, and in three dual meets, one in Davis and two in Sac.

Beach volleyball, softball and baseball have not posted schedules yet, and who knows if baseball will even schedule each other this year?

Ranking the favorites to win it all.
https://herosports.com/fcs-football-2021-favorites-national-title-ranked-24-bzbz/

Final: UCD 75, CSUS 46

And another possibility for Olympic sports - competitive pillow fighting.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/20/sport/pillow-fighting-spt-intl/index.html

Ags will play Long Beach State on December 2nd in one of two play-in games in the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championships. Ags fell to the Beach, 18-10, during the regular season .-

There was something on the broadcast that said that first and second round games would be "regionalized" to save travel costs. This ain't men's basketball and March Madness.

I think they avoided teams playing conference opponents in the first game other than one game where the commentators mentioned that the teams did not meet in the regular season this year. Cannot recall which game that was.

UCD defeated California Baptist, 14-9, in the WWPA tournament finals. Ags will get the bid to the "play-in" portion of the NCAA tournament.

(Water polo is a little different. NCAA says the tourney is only 4 teams, but there are 6 (?) teams and two (?) play-ins earlier in the week at the same site as the Final Four. (Two teams get byes, the other four participate in play-ins.) This year the tourney is at UCLA on the weekend of December 4-5. NCAA will announce the brackets and teams later tonight. No TV...just a press release.)

Yeah, just thought of that.

Think we’ll travel to one of the Montanas. Blurb said first round games would be “regionalized.”

Apparently we lost the football game. Cup score: UCD 20, CSUS 10.

Next competition(s): Basketball doubleheader this Tuesday, 11/23.

From NCAA.com:

The writer has us in as the 7th at large bid, but with a caution that we may not be around very long. He ruled out two teams (VMI, William & Mary) who finished on three loss streaks.

Autobids:

CONFERENCE, TEAM

AQ7 - Sam Houston
Big Sky - Sacramento State
Big South - Kennesaw State
CAA - Villanova
MVFC - North Dakota State
NEC - Sacred Heart
OVC - UT Martin
Patriot - Holy Cross
Pioneer - Davidson
SoCon - ETSU
Southland - UIW

https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2021-11-07/fcs-football-playoffs-tracking-automatic-bids-2021-fcs-playoffs?utm_campaign=inline-article


PREDICTED at large bids:

STAN BECTON | NCAA.COM | NOVEMBER 21, 2021
Predicting every at-large selection to the 2021 FCS playoffs
It's almost time for the 2021 FCS playoffs, with the selection show tomorrow, Nov. 21 at 12:30 p.m. With all of the automatic qualifying bids decided, the 13 at-large selections are still up for grabs. 
Luckily for FCS fans around the country, I have predicted all 13 teams that will receive an invitation to the 24-team field come tomorrow afternoon.
Here are the 2021 FCS playoff at-large selection predictions
1. James Madison (10-1) CAA
This was the easiest selection of the at-large bids. With just one loss, James Madison may receive the highly regarded two seed come Sunday afternoon.
2. Montana State (9-2) Big Sky
Montana State's loss in the Brawl of the Wild cost them the Big Sky's automatic bid, but the Bobcats remain in the playoff field thanks to an otherwise dominant regular season.
3. Eastern Washington (9-2) Big Sky
Eastern Washington likely receives a seed in this year's FCS playoffs with just two losses on its resume. The Eagles have one of the nation's top offenses led by arguably the nation's top quarterback.
4. Montana (9-2) Big Sky
Montana picked up a win in Week 12 over in-state rival Montana [State] that almost guarantees it a seed in this year's playoff field. The Grizzlies hold a ranked FBS win and their two losses came to other top teams in the Big Sky.
5. Missouri State (8-3) MVFC
Missouri State holds wins over South Dakota, Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa this season. Head coach Bobby Petrino's team made it through a gauntlet of a schedule to make the playoffs for the second-straight season.
6. South Dakota State (8-3) MVFC
Last year's national championship runner-up returns to postseason play as an at-large team after finishing 8-3. The Jackrabbits hold an FBS win and defeated rival North Dakota State in the Dakota Marker.
7. UC Davis (8-3) Big Sky
UC Davis enters the FCS playoffs on a two-game losing streak. The Aggies will have to rediscover its top-10 form or face an early exit from this year's field.
8. Southeastern Louisiana (8-3) Southland
Southeastern Louisiana may have lost two of its final three games, but it still has reigning Walter Payton award winner Cole Kelley at quarterback. Kelley has the potential to right the ship and carry the Lions on a deep playoff run.
9. Florida A&M (9-2) SWAC
Florida A&M becomes the first SWAC team to make the FCS playoffs since 1997. The Rattlers have a dominant defense that scored two touchdowns in Week 12. With stars like the FCS's sacks and tackle for loss leader, linebacker Isaiah Land, Florida A&M's defense can keep it in any game.
10. Southern Illinois (7-4) MVFC
Southern Illinois' loss to Youngstown State in Week 12 came as a surprise, but wins over a talented South Dakota State team and a competitive North Dakota squad are enough to get the Salukis into the playoffs with a 7-4 record.
11. South Dakota (7-4) MVFC
South Dakota is one of the most interesting teams in this year's playoff field. The Coyotes lost to FCS programs Missouri State, Illinois State and North Dakota State, but defeated South Dakota State and Northern Iowa. How far South Dakota goes in this year's tournament depends on which Coyote team shows up.
12. Stephen F. Austin (8-3) AQ7
Stephen F. Austin holds just two FCS losses, one of which coming to reigning champion Sam Houston. Losses aside, it's Stephen F. Austin's head-to-head win over Eastern Kentucky that gets the Lumberjacks into the playoffs.
13. Northern Iowa (6-5) MVFC
UNI is my last-team-in as an at-large in this year's FCS playoffs. UNI holds three great wins over Big Sky champion Sacramento State and MVFC foes South Dakota State and Southern Illinois. None of the teams on the bubble can match this resume.
First team out
Rhode Island (7-4) CAA
Rhode Island would have been in as an at-large team if not for a Week 12 loss to Elon. With that loss, the Rams are the first team out of the 2021 FCS playoffs. Despite having an FBS win over UMass, Rhode Island's win over Delaware has only become less impressive as the season progressed.
Other teams that just missed out in my predictions
Eastern Kentucky (7-4) AQ7
Eastern Kentucky misses the playoffs because the Colonels do not have a notable win this season.
VMI (6-5) SoCon
VMI lost three straight games to end the season. That is enough to knock the Keydets out of the playoff picture.
Mercer (7-3) SoCon
Mercer lost a chance at an automatic bid, falling to ETSU in Week 12. While the Bears only have two FCS losses, their best win comes against a 6-5 Chattanooga team.
William and Mary (6-5) CAA
William and Mary is another program that fell out of the playoff picture with three straight losses to end the season. The Tribe hold a win over a likely seeded team in Villanova, but that isn't enough to sneak into the playoffs.
https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2021-11-20/fcs-playoff-predictions-predicting-every-large-selection-2021-fcs-playoffs?utm_campaign=trending

Why would we even want to go to the playoffs?

Why is it that some people feel coaching is a genetically transferred trait?

Pete and Brendan Carrol at USC and Seattle, Kirk and Brian Ferentz at Iowa, Lou and Skip Holtz.....I'll leave it there.

So we're looking at the possibility of Sac winning the conference championship at our stadium, maybe in a shut out?

Wide FG attempt. That about sums it up.

Davis advances to WWPA Championship with 8-5 win over LMU. In a mild upset California Baptist edged UC San Diego, 14-13, in the other semi-final. Davis defeated Calfornia Baptist 17-9 in the regular season. Final will be Sunday at noon.

Ags easily defeated Biola, 21-5, in Friday's first round, quarter-final match.