Stats that occurred in the Mercer game arereal in my mind, I watched the game and believe that they should count. As for letting AI add to those stats I am against that. In a normal season over the course of many games multiple factors change stats. Often in blowout games non starters will garner stats as they mop up time in the 4th quarter. Again I don't think stats should be extrapolated by the minutes lost.

I have no problem when an MLB game is called in the 7th inning with the results being official for both the team's win or loss plus the players' stats are kept. Evidently the NCAA football rules committee has issues following baseball. My thought bubble is a different way to handle either the current NCAA model or following baseball's rules.

You toss. a coin to let the winner make the choice of which official to ask. Some games a team may have 85% chance of winning.

As for players stats I believe the reason why they have not counted is because the game one of the metrics to determine an official game is to have an outcome. This can be changed and might be easier to change than having a game determined off the field.

The no contest UC Davis vs. Mercer football game showed a flaw in how college football handles prematurely ended contests. Perhaps a new system, leveraging modern technology, is needed to ensure fairness for both players and teams

For the players the ramifications of a no contest is their stats are wiped out. For the best skill players and best defense players this is a hit to their season and career. For non skill players and non starters this is not a big deal. I believe this is unfair to the players.

For the team records this is a big deal with such a limited number of games. If this was MLB with a 162 game schedule a no contest usually is not a big deal. However with a limited number of FCS football games this is a big swing. Thinking about the impact that not having a win means for a football program, I feel as if there needs to be a mechanism to make these types of games count for wins and loses plus stats.

The next question is how to make this fair. While no system without a full 60 is going to be fair but what might be a good substitute for that. In the UCD Mercer game both sides can rightfully "know “ that they were going to win the game. I am sure that the sidelines on both sides knew that this was their game to win. That is what makes this a good test case. It wasn't like the Aggies were up by 25 points which would have taken 4 scores for the Bears to pass them.

So how do you make this somewhat fair? 50 years ago a coin flip might have been ok, but this is 2025. Sports betting, and networks have all kinds of algorithms that will give current odds of a team winning in sports in the second half.

So my thought bubble goes like this. When the UCD and Mercer game was called this how the new process would work.. First point is that the stats are counted for the players up to the stopping point of the game. The outcome of the game will then be decided off the field. Last week this could have been on ESPN. A pre-arranged algorithm will be used to determine the odds of each team winning at the stopped point For the thought bubble let’s say the odds at the conclusion of play had the Ags with a 57% chance of winning. There will be a coin toss with the Head Coaches. The officials crew will still be there and all the officials crew will have their phone generate a random number between 1 and 99. The winning coach will then ask one member of the officiating crew to show the generated random number. In our thought bubble the number is 42 and the Ags win and Mercer loses.

Comments and or thoughts?

There is no way in the next decade that Sac state pays out 400,000 plus to play us unless they back door into the Pac-12. Which is very unlikely at this point. The highest odds are that the entire house of stingers comes tumbling down and Sac state folds their tent on the entire sports program.

The Hornets are making it up as they go. Guess they cannot get their stingers up or down.

IF they are scrimmages I think that they would be listed as such. Did the men's tennis match count on their record?

Yolohw: You are right, many are Nor Cal and regular foes. The GGC is not as rugged as the Big West and will be an easier road to a conference title. Hawaii and UC Irvine have been a top 6 program often.

The MWC does not have waterpolo facilities, and with many of them having indoor pools there is NO chance of getting the facilities upgraded. The list of MWC with women's swimming is the following:
San San Diego State. outdoors has women's waterpolo GCC-NO men's swimming or Men's waterpolo
UNLV indoors NOT deep enough for polo has men's swimming
Nevada indoors NOT deep enough for polo NO men's swimming
Fresno State outdoors has women's waterpolo GCC NO men's swimming or men's waterpolo
Washington State indoors NOT deep enough for polo NO men's swimming
Wyoming 595 indoors NOT deep enough for polo has men's swimming
Colorado State indoors NOT deep enough polo NO men's swimming
Air Force indoors has men's water polo varsity club women and men's varsity swimming
New Mexico indoors NOT deep enough NO men's swimming or polo
San José State outdoors women's polo GCC, men's polo NO men's swimming

Mountain West does NOT have Men's soccer. I think that it is coin flip for the Ags to join the WCC or stay in the Big West. I think we learn more before Labor Day.

Good for Sac; exciting times to see Shag: giant smile, giant heart, giant presence.
.I am looking forward to the Aggies and Coach Les beating Sac state.

I saw the same thing, looks like he plays with the mindset "risk it for the biscuit" . I think it will be up to the coaching staff, style of play whether Max makes the squad. Nevertheless it was way cool to say an Aggie on such a big stage!

Pulled this from a respected pundit about Max's chance to make the world cup squad:Work to do: Max Arfsten The pundit listed him as work to do, but has a chance.

Max Arfsten is an enigma. Watching the fullback in person shows his tendencies to push aggressively high up the wing and how it generates great offense.

You also clearly see how far he needs to track back to play defense. Arfsten's pushes up the field can often lead to exposure on the flanks that have hurt the USMNT.

That Costa Rica match was the essence of what makes Arfsten great - and what he needs to improve. After giving up a penalty on a clumsy tackle to go down 1-0, he assisted Luna's equalizer and then scored one of his own to take a 2-1 lead.

But beyond his performances, left back could be a position of luxury - with PSV's Sergino Dest and Borussia Monchengladbach's Joe Scally serving as top options when healthy. He'd need to truly shine for Columbus Crew the rest of the season to bump either of them.

Arsten played very well; worked hard, had a super shot from outside that was a meter off-line. He played well for himself, his country and a UCD alumnus.

WOW--Best of luck to Max and the USMNT. Big time stuff.

There is no way CAL and UC Davis is a lateral move. While CAL football and basketball have struggled, they have history and some of their Olympic sports regularly bring home NCAA titles. UCD's football and basketball are not juggernauts and Olympic sports are weak with no national presences and general medocity in the Big West. CAL is at the adult table and UCD is still at the kiddie table on the national scene.

It has been long enough for me to have unpacked Blue's tenure at UCD. I think looking back it was at best a mixed bag. His EVO program for me was more for positioning his next career move rather than to benefit the UCD student athletes. His inability to garner major support from alumni was probably due to the general consensus from Aggie alumni.. EVO is no longer in the department. The overall sports program was good but not great. He did not have higher superstars for his staff. As for his job with the World Cup 2026, it is a huge deal, and I will be rooting a 100% for the Stars and Stripes.

What happens if they change their uniforms does it mess up the with color contrast? Football is complicated, play the game to win and go a quest to win a natty championship. Cut the fluff and have laser focus on the above, while still getting a great education.

I agree, with you about our traditional uniforms. Nike and the Ducks had a vested interest in having so many styles of uniforms, with the end goal to sell more of everything. Keeping our Davis script and same color is great. Focus on what is important for many of the Aggie athletic following; being great student athletes that compete their a***** off in sport and the classroom.

I see these alternate uniforms as a frill at best and at worst against one of our campus goals of sustainability. We touted ourselves as a global leader in sustainability. Alternative uniforms do NOT meet the concept of sustainability.
For the department spending resources including time takes away from being focused on the athlete’s sport (craft) For the athletic department in general I see resources being taken away from supporting the athletes. Please do Not tell me that these uniforms are going to create positive revenue by selling them to the public.

With the portal it will be the new normal. Not a good normal, but it will not scare away players as their egos are strong and most believe that they will be a very good starter at any program that at any point had interest in them.

Bill was a grand man. His support also included Davis high School and the community in general. He left every aspect of Davis a better place. Deep condolences to his family. RIP Bill.