OMG I love this idea!! I live in Spain half the year, and they have the a tomato fight festival that is so much fun. We should totally do a tomato fight either before or after a game....the kids would love it

Let me break it down for you, CP is irrelevant. He isn't an Aggie. He didn't get his degree here. I think most are like "Whatever" he is irrelevant. Come this fall, nobody will be thinking about him at all.

?? Why? He isn't an Aggie. In 3 years from now, nobody will remember him. I'll put up money that CP's replacement will be a better football player once their careers are over and the a Davis degree is much more valuable than a WAZZU degree, especially if he want to live in California.

LOL, that is awesome man.

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

This is absolutely the right perspective.

Agree. That podcast was amazing. Coach Plough is such a good coach, we are so blessed to have him leading our football team.

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.

Agreed 100%. Enjoy that WAZZU degree.

I'm not to sure that TV money is going to be there in 2030. The industry is changing from traditional TV broadcast to streaming apps. I could see the TV contract being a lot less money next go around and you will see conferences like the BIG/SEC/ACC start thinking "we have $100M deal spread among X amount of teams...why not reduce the amount of teams and get a bigger slice of the pie." Then ACC will be like "Sorry Cal and Stanford but there is not enough money for you to be apart of the ACC anymore." The BIG will do the same with USC/UCLA. What are those schools going to do then? They are going to be homeless and their programs will financially bleed out.

Yes I see the same thing. The country as a whole is undergoing some real challenges and I'll be honest if I had a kid going to college right now, I'm not sure I want him outside the state in the current state of the country. There are so many California kids playing out of state who after a year or two realize South Carolina or Texas is not California and are looking to come home. This to me, is the biggest data point for Davis to continue doing what its doing.

In the podcast with Coach, he said a ton of D1 players sought to come to Davis to replace Caden but he turned them down because he prefers developing kids out of HS, which I support. But the bigger point is the UC Davis football name is getting out there. Kids are now looking at Davis as a viable option to attend school and play football. This is huge.

You are right about Stanford and Cal, but I'd suggest USC and UCLA are not happy with the current situation as well. USC for all its pomp and arrogance is quickly realizing they are turning into Nebraska by being in the BIG. UCLA has become a nobody in sports. Which is wild to me considering their location and history.

So what does this all mean? I think the conference realignment isn't over yet. I've said it for years, if California as a state were to invest in the college sports with just California schools, it would be the solution we are looking for. It creates scholarships for California kids. It allows for natural rivalries to develop based on geographic region...SAC vs Bay Area or Bay Area vs LA....etc and it creates jobs...a lot of jobs. Don't laugh, if you go to the SEC you see this with Miss ST/OldMiss vs Alabama/Auburn...none of those places come close to the population of California but the local communities are bought in and it makes the SEC the SEC. There is no reason we couldn't do that in California.

Imagine for a second the California Conference was in existence, check out this potential schedule:

UC Davis Hypothetical Schedule:

vs Stanford
@ Fresno St
@ San Jose St
vs USC
vs CalPoly
@ SacSt
vs San Diego St
@ Cal
@ OOC game (pick)
vs UCLA
vs OOC game (pick)

This schedule would curb travel costs both financially and education wise (kids are not taking 6 hr flights across the country during finals). Families and fans could easily travel to watch their kids play. Imagine the economic impact on Davis, San Louis Obispo, etc. if we hosted a game with USC or Stanford...the money spent in Davis would supercharge the local economy.

The more I look into the state of college football the more I'm convinced this is the only viable long-term solution for California college athletics.

I have to admit I'm changing my mind on moving to FBS. Taking into account the entire FBS model I'm not sure moving to the MWC will be good move anymore. Things are changing fast and it might be good to sit back and keep developing the program slowly. I like where we are headed. No rush.

I remember my sophmore year they were looking at changing the name. I just think times have changed. Do I think it would be a net positive? yeah, but do I think it will happen? Prob not. I mean go look at Downtown Davis....its a shell of what it used to be...it is very hard to change peoples minds.

Oh that would awesome! "Welcome to Mondavi Vineyard Field...." That would cool.

LOL, I'm not serious this would ever happen, but if I had a vote that is what I would do. I've never really felt the horse was a great fit as a logo, it always felt forced. When you think of Aggies what do you think of? Texas A&M? NM State? Utah St?....its kind of a blah name to be honest. I've always loved the unique names in college, from the Banana Slugs, Buckeyes, Gorillas, Boilermakers, etc. those names are just great. I mean look at Stanford...they are the Cardinal...the color..not the bird....I always thought that was genius.

Love seeing the younger generations sharing their thoughts!! This is your university!! Once all of us old guys are gone, this will be yours to continue our legacy.

If you really want to make some noise and completely change the perception of Davis....change the mascot from the "Aggies" to the "Winemakers". I know it will never happen, but if we changed the name it would highlight one of the main things we do better than anyone else in the world and it gives us a immediate unique narrative...instead of "stinky cow smell university"...its "the home of Wine producers"...

Now when TV and writers talk about Davis its not through a "Its a UC...but we really don't know the difference between Davis and Fresno St...." but when you say "welcome to UC Davis, the home of the best wine makers in the world..." that rings a whole lot different....and people with money....like wine....
they like status....and a simple name change does that.

It's just lazy recruiting. There are a ton of athletes who are given a ton of rope because of the perception of how good they are, vs. how they actually play.

ha! These guys know what they are doing.

We need defense line help. big bodies is my guess.

It's happening. I'm loving what the coaching staff is doing. Excellent work. I've said for years, a ton of California kids want to stay in California, most didn't know Davis was even an option, but the more we are on tv, more winning, more exposure, and Davis can become a power.

Well done!!! Spring ball is going to be fantastic!