I'm with you. If you would have told me we would have a 4 star FR QB under center, with a ton of 3 stars on our roster...plus we get the Conners back....next season is the one we have all been waiting for.

Well that really depends on their schedule. I'll have to see how it lines up, but I'll be honest If Nebraska who has a much more successful history in football can't win, I'm not sure how successful NDSU will be. They probably will follow App St progress....really powerful at the FCS level...lower tier at the FBS level.

Just give it some time.I think Davis is the in a great spot overall. Those games on ESPN are having a huge effect. Will we move to FBS sometime? Sure. But I'll be honest, I'd rather follow the NDSU route and win a couple championships first. And that can easily happen here. Let's do that first and then move to the FBS or whatever league is formed after 2030. There is no need to jump to FBS right now.

I can understand your frustration with UC Davis when you try to compare it to FBS schools, however you need to take into the general landscape of college athletics as a whole. The entire college athletics you and I grew up with has changed. This change is still in its infancy.

I find your defense of Cal as hilarious. What has Cal ever won? When was the last time Cal won its conference? When will it win a national championship? Probably never. And you want Davis to follow that model? Yeah....nah. I'm good.

I would much prefer staying at the FCS level and making the playoffs and competing for a national championship vice being in Cal's position. And before you talk about talent, let me remind you the Seattle Seahawks had 9 FCS players on its roster, New England had 9 including our own Lan on the team. So its not about talent.

Davis is building a solid program and it will take time. It will take $$$ too. But don't be in such a rush to join an FBS league that might not even exist in 2029. I keep saying it, Cal and Stanford begged to be in the ACC....don't be surprised if the ACC decides the travel costs and fit just don't work and cut both programs in 2029. Then what? Where is Cal and Stanford going to go? See what I mean? Things are really fluid right now and the best option is to take it slow.

For the all the hub bub about FBS, I find it funny the only school who has made the college football playoffs since FBS joined the playoff format is UC Davis. USC Nope. UCLA Nope. San Diego St. Nope. Fresno St. Nope. Cal Nope. Stanford. Nope. And you want Davis to follow these schools? Nah...I'm good.

I think it’s prudent to wait before making any decisions right now. I get the feeling that the super league the powers that be have wanted might be established at the next tv negotiations. If that happens all conferences will be remade and there will be a ton of opportunities.

I would rather dominate the FCS then move to the FBS right now. We are not ready to move to the FBS. Just my opinion.

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.