https://www.si.com/college/fcs/big-sky/2026-uc-davis-football-preview-are-the-aggies-ready-to-take-the-championship-step

FWIW I'm rooting for cleeland. I like the homegrown guys to emerge after being in the same place a while.

I’m rooting for them both to get a fair chance. One has been with the team about six month longer than the other. By the end of Fall camp that will be a non-factor.

NCAA just passed an age-based eligibility system which gives players 5 years of on-field competition vs 4 years. An extra year for some of our seniors will be huge.

up to five years of eligibility if they enroll in college no later than the academic year after their 19th birthday. The new rule streamlines a significant portion of the Division I rule book by eliminating season-of-competition limits, sport-specific eligibility and redshirt rules, and eligibility extension waivers.
Players who get an additional year are those few who never redshirted (medical or otherwise),

So how does the new ruling affect the Aggies?

Not too much. Replaces the five years to play four plus a redshirt with a simple five years. The few players who never redshirted, like Ty Richardson gain a year

The Davis roster must have anticipated this change because they list players by academic year, so players who’ve been on the team for four years are called seniors, but most still have a year remaining in the five year window so can come back next year. Many of those guys could under the old rule because they redshirted in one of the early years.

The reason behind the move is to get rid of the six to nine year players. The five year window to play being at the latest five years from the academic year following their turning 19, so after the current players age out Division 1athletes will be at most 24 years old, unless they served in military or were on a religious mission

I should mention that no current players suffer, the players on the team can use either the old or new system to qualify.

Good explanation, thank you. Hopefully this puts an end to some of the Covid eligibility loopholes and insanity. It will have an interesting impact on the junior college route, especially for quarterbacks. Is a kid better off going to a JC to play for a year rather than sitting and essentially redshirting until he wins a job? Heck, may not just be a QB issue. If I were a Juco coach, I would sell the heck out of one and dones. If I were a four year coach, you counter with developing within the system. There will be some interesting discussions

On the other hand, coaches will feel free to play freshmen who are useful Won't have that dilemma where they need a guy like Brayden Rosa, where they had to burn his redshirt year to have him on kick coverage in a fifth game.

Correct. I think at some positions like Safeties and Linebackers, it will absolutely eliminate the scenario you mentioned. I think the QB deal will probably be where it becomes interesting.

All kickoff times are listed in Pacific Time below:

Aug. 29, at Portland State*, 12:00 p.m.
Sept. 5, at San Diego, 7:00 p.m.
Sept. 12, at SMU, 1:00 p.m.
Sept. 19, STETSON, 7:00 p.m.
Sept. 26, MONTANA*, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 3, EASTERN WASHINGTON*, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 17, at Southern Utah*, 5:00 p.m.
Oct. 24, NORTHERN COLORADO*, 4:00 p.m.
Oct. 31, at Weber State*, 12:00 p.m.
Nov. 7, UTAH TECH*, 4:00 p.m.
Nov. 14, at Idaho*, 1:00 p.m.
Nov. 21, CAL POLY*, 1:00 p.m.

HOME GAMES IN ALL CAPS
* Denotes Big Sky Conference game

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2026/7/7/football-announces-2026-start-times.aspx

Can we be respectable vs SMU?

my thinking is it depends how dialed we are in QB play by then. SMU returns a QB with a lot of experience so they'll be rolling by wk 3

Can we be respectable vs SMU, maybe? When we play them, that will be their second game of the season (our 3rd) and they will be coming off a Monday evening game in FL. Not a lot of turn-around time for them to prepare. If they look past us or don't take us seriously, the game might be respectable.

The Ags need to focus on Portland, i think we looked past them a few years ago and it almost cost us the game.

Circle September 26th. That’s going to be a night of be there or be square. Total pivotal game for the Aggies.