Great post Gabe. I think you are right about that. I am just excited as ever for this upcoming season no matter what. I agree with what we talked about earlier that this could be our year, and I really mean it!

He posted a gif after the Sac FBS independent waiver got rejected too lol (ill link it here)

I assume both posts are related to Sac moves. This one is even more ominous though... idk what hes saying but it seems like Plough knows something we dont

So Plough just posted this like 10 minutes ago…

yeah I was gonna say as much as I would personally like a statement or some plan I still trust what they are doing behind the scenes. Last move to the MW came out of nowhere.

I agree the MW would probably get more fans in the stands but with our success in football recently attendance has been way up. I just think the FBS will get more expensive over the years too, success these next few years and a move is smart imo.

Its like living in an alternative universe.

I like these lines

If you're going to spend, you have to be confident in your ability to deliver on the field. I believe we have the people and process in place to do deliver.

Excited for this upcoming season. I think we can make a deep FCS playoff run with the schedule and changes in the FCS. Exciting times!

Thats what most people online seem to think.

Like in what world? I seriously feel like Luke Wood just must have a ton of yes men making up these numbers cause it just makes no sense.

Haha after that playoff run they have had a few big donations. Pretty awesome to see. Speaking of all the realignment stuff, Illinois state would have made a hell of a lot more sense than Sac State but geography doesnt matter anymore so what do I know.

This is a well written post and I agree with much of what you say. Actually, I think most of your points line-up with my opinions about the future of the Davis football team and our position within the athletics world. I understand Davis is not a huge sports school. I also know that talking to people on campus regularly, the current classification of being an FCS school but also being D1 but also not really the top of D1 and also being in the Big Sky but actually the Big West is confusing, makes it harder to understand what you are playing for.

I think we have a very good chance to go deep or even win an FCS championship in the next few years, FBS move in the future or not. I look forward to it.

I see no world in which renovations would be complete by 2028 for the stadium, especially considering an addition grandstand or something of the matter on top of the suites being built. I do think you can get the suites built by the end of 2028.

Its a benefit to move to the MW for football because it positions us to not get further relegated if those conferences change in the future. Heck, the worry of having us end up being in a 3rd tier of d1 (if the top of the FBS splits and we have D1, D1AA and D1AAA or something) is worrying. I also think that our move to the MW would be less costly than NDSU considering we will already be a member of the MW for all other sports. I think the rush is simply to position us in the best possible spot for this coming huge college football shakeup you talk about.

I want you to go to campus and go stand on our old field by Hickey Gym. Go look at that area. That was the site of UC Davis football for decades. I can't tell you the amount of time my butt was numb from sitting in those metal bleaches. The current stadium didn't come about till 2007. That means in 20 years we have gone form a DII school to people wanting Davis to join the MWC. That is a pretty big move already and you want us to move even faster? For what?

I think your history of watching UC Davis games is super cool. Hearing about the environment over at Toomey makes for some really fun stories. I also think the reason it took so long for the stadium to be built had a ton of external and internal factors that made it take a long time to get done. I also think in the past 10 years or so we have seen projects get completed faster on campus (and in our Sac campus areas). I think moving from fcs to fbs in 20-25 years is not unprecedented in the slightest either.

I don't just "want to UC Davis on ESPN and playing bigger schools for the pure entertainment of it", I think if we are going to invest in sports like the plan suggests in Aggie Ascent, moving our football team to match the conference we are in makes sense. I have heard you in the past refer to athletics as the front porch of the university, and I think our football team playing in the MW fits that better than the current status of the FCS where we are an outlier in student body size, endowment, research output, location, media market, etc.

Now to the money bit, which again, is all a bit of hearsay from all of us cause we have no idea what the actual books would look like with an FBS move or exactly what they are now (in relation to facilities and program funding) but Aggie Stadium was designed to be expanded to 30k or whatever the exact number was. I don't think we have any reason for an expansion that big, something like 18-20k seems realistic. The stadium already needs these renovations IMO because the gameday experience needs improvement through concessions, seating options, etc. I also think playing schools in the MW gives us a similar if not slightly smaller travel footprint for the program for a lot of the games. While yes, a FBS team is more expensive, moving to the current MW is not like joining the Big10 or even new Pac12.

Again, I think the money, partnerships and readiness of our program for the FBS is not at the place it needs to be in the moment nor will it be in the next few years, I just simply think giving people a more realistic idea of what our plans may be would drum up way more support. Our move to the Mountain West 100% puts us up against more recognizable brands with better fanbases than much of the Big Sky not even counting most of the FCS. I don't think adding Northern Colorado, much less Utah Tech and Southern Utah to the Big Sky was a smart idea after losing a member, while I feel the MW is strengthening itself how it can after losing members.

Positioning ourselves to have a plan in place to be in a conference that our other sports are aligned with, expanding the stadium with realistic amounts of additional seating, limited premium seating/improved gameday concessions, and preparing ourselves to be in a position with other similarly sized, flagship universities when future realignment comes is what I see as a smart move.

I would never want to just force our way instantly into a conference, spend a ton of money on temporary upgrades to facilities and then leave said facilities for new ones, increase travel costs tenfold to play faraway directional universities just to say we are FBS, but I think the MW aligns well with the future of Davis football. Waiting until 2028-2030 to make our push makes sense, waiting until 2040 seems long imo.

This!!

1. The plan under the current renovation is to be complete within 5 years. Adding addition seating to that plan to increase capacity doesnt seem impossible.
2. I think this whole changing this is possible, but its all guessing at the moment. I still think positioning ourselves in that lower FBS bracket instead of FCS before those hypothetical changes happen is a good idea. NDSU moved to the MW after the media deal was completed.
3. I think the third one is more complicated, but I think joining the conference that all our other sports are in, continuing to compete in a regional conference like the MW, and increased exposure make it worth it, especially considering the MW schools we have close by.

I'd say a move somewhere between the 2028 and 2030 season sounds plausible and lines up with the Plough extension and renovation plans.

I doubt Cal even has that impact...

I thought of that too. It made me think about the extension of Polesek at NDSU before the announcement of their move to the Mountain West. Plough's extension came out of nowhere like every big announcement we seem to have. Makes me think he must have been given some timeline/plan of what we are doing in the future.

Give a timeline of a prospective move, drum up excitement and donations for the program and facility. Allow the university to plan for that move once they have moved all other sports into the conference later this year. Build a recruiting pitch that goes with our high academic status. Solidify the future plan for Plough, student athletes and alumni.

Sac is basically paying to be an independent because they got rejected as an independent (paying for everyone to come to them, etc.)

Makes sense. I am just curious what the funding looks like for the renovation projects now. If its lacking, I would imagine some clarity on the future would be helpful for that. I think it was a surprise when we joined the MW for all other sports, but also leaves us in a weird limbo of head scratching of where we will be in the future. Its like all signs point towards one thing but that one thing is shrouded in mystery.

Oh im not saying move this year, that makes no sense for us. I am echoing what others are saying about the AD putting out a statement giving a goal/timeline for that move. 2028-2030 sounds about right. It just seems like it would give donors clarity of what they are building towards, especially with all other sports in the MW.