I get where you are coming from. I mean there has never been any real highly competitive college sports in NorCal pretty much ever. That doesn't mean the area doesn't produce top talent. I think SACST is smart - they know they are sitting on a gold mine of talent in the SAC area. They need to find a way to make it a destination place for high quality players across the nation.

Trust me, do you know how many California kids want to stay in California and play football? A ton. But they have traditionally only had limited options: Stanford (good luck), Cal (good luck), USC (good luck), UCLA (good luck), Fresno st, San Diego St, and San Jose St. I mean that's pretty much it. The largest state in the union with some of the best high school students athletes in the nation have those options in state. I think with NIL there is going to be really good kids who find out chasing the money like Rashida who is from Pittsburg did at Florida and Miami may not work out and those kids want a second chance to play football close to home.

Check out SACST transfer list of incoming: https://www.on3.com/college/sacramento-state-hornets/transfer-portal/wire/football/

Now lets say SACST and Davis become D1 football teams. That is over 150 new opportunities for CA kids to keep playing football close to home.

I've always said, Davis is a sleeping giant when it comes to sports. We have the academic reputation, we have the endowment, we have the small town, and we are located right outside the state capital. I mean talk about advantages.

Folsom, Granite Bay, and Grant should all be Davis feeder schools. Davis should be at those high schools every day and let them know they have an opportunity to continue to play at Davis.

I think SACST and Davis can both benefit from moving up in level of competition. We are natural rivals. If start getting local kids to stay home Davis,and SACst will benefit.

I'm not talking just football and basketball, but baseball, softball, soccer, etc. Look at our top local athletes:


Harper Peterson (Whitney High School): A 6-foot-3 senior forward with guard skills, Peterson averaged 14.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game. She led Whitney to two section championships and is committed to Stanford University.
AOL

Ella Skryzniarz (Vista del Lago): A junior guard who averaged 21.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.9 steals, Skryzniarz led her team to its first section championship and a 23-9 record.
AOL

Kaia Diederichs (Colfax): A versatile junior guard who contributed 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 3.2 steals per game. Diederichs also excels in soccer and flag football, showcasing her multi-sport prowess.
AOL

Ryder Lyons (Folsom High School): A five-star quarterback and Gatorade California Player of the Year, Lyons threw for 3,011 yards and 46 touchdowns while rushing for 585 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2024. He is considered one of the top recruits in the 2026 class.
Wikipedia

Kingston Lopa (Grant High School): A 6-foot-5 safety committed to the University of Oregon, Lopa was ranked 22nd in California and played a pivotal role in Grant's state championship run.
MaxPreps.com

Jericho Johnson (Armijo High School): A 6-foot-4, 300-pound defensive lineman ranked 13th in California, Johnson recorded nine sacks in the 2022 season and holds offers from top programs like Miami and Alabama.
MaxPreps.com

AB Hernandez: A junior athlete who set a meet record in the triple jump and long jump during California's track-and-field championships. Her performance led to a temporary rule change by the California Interscholastic Federation to ensure fairness in competition.

I still love you man. ;)

When I say win it all I am talking about more than the championship. What did Dion win at Colorado? People would say nothing. But I bet if you ask the local businesses if they like the excitement and local revenue its bringing in you'd think they won the title. Dion is acting like a beacon to all the former players who have nothing to do and would love to learn under Dion. So they are going to start brining in a lot of names. This will happen at SACST too.

Let's not kid ourselves NorCAl football has always been neglected. What do we have, Stanford and Cal? Eh, you have to be really lucky to get into either school because those schools never really represented the local populations. They are world elite. Whereas UC Davis and SacSt I look at as the inland blue collar schools that have academic standards but are not proud enough to not roll up our sleeves.

Thinks about this Sacramento has multiple high school football powers in the city. The #1 QB in this years class goes to Folsom High school. Not one local program is even under consideration. Look at Napa High school, there are two of the top HS basketball players in the nation and neither are considering Davis or Sac.

I love the direction we are going. But I'm not opposed to what SACST is doing either.

You still don't get it. Everything has changed in college football. The Dion Sanders effect is real. Right now across summer sports camps around the country guess which school is generating buzz in both football and basketball? And this is before all the changes and results from all this infusion of Top Tier D1 talent. Watch what SacSt does this fall, they are going to be very good. Think about basketball...Shaq, Mikey Williams, etc. blowing up the gym for the home opener. I'll bet they triple their profits at the turn and merchandise next year.

What my main question is how can we use this to our benefit?

Next year, this time SACST is going to be everyone's darling. I could see SACST winning it all in football and then become a hot bed for transfers. A Big impact to their basketball program. How many ESPN clips are they going to show of Shaq at SACST? The amount of free publicity is going to bring more eyeballs to the Sacramento area including us. I want to grab some of those eyeballs.

I really hope your right!

I actually have no problem with the football or womens basketball programs. I think both are showing improvement. My issue is with the mens basketball team which I think has become stale and needs some change.

This post is about SACST, so I'm posting on SACST. I think they are going to be successful and may just get into the PAC conference. When Stanford, Cal, USC, and UCLA come back (they are already realizing cross country travel is expensive and kids are having a tough time) they might rejoin the PAC with SACST and not Davis and this bothers me.

No. I'm a UCD alumni and it is perfectly ok to critique our university. But I will be watching some SACST sports this year because they are going to be interesting to watch. Davis is moving up, but it will take a whole lot more to get the fan base excited to support our teams. We should never be satisfied with the status quo. We should always strive to be better. If we want to be a D1 program we have to start acting like it.

Again, the times have changed. SacSt is not Sonoma St. SacSt has big influencers and are gaining steam. Watch SACST football and basketball this year, they will be very successful and only get better the following year. Players are now talking to each other about staying home in CA and playing for local schools vice sitting on the bench at USC or Texas. These kids also know their scholarships can be given to new players better than them, so it makes sense to stay local. I'm telling you Davis has such a unique opportunity to really make some headway, but they can't pretend we are still a D2 program. SACST is going for it and I respect them for trying. Will it be successful? Time will tell, but one thing I do know is, a lot of people are going to watch SACST play next year and that equals $$$$.

We will not be in the Big Sky anymore and if you think moving to the Mountain West is going to be easy you are mistaken. In basketball alone, we are talking about playing, Air Force, UNLV, New Mexico, etc. in conference not to mention all teams like Stanford, UCLA, Washington, etc. are much better than Davis athletically. If we don't proactively plan a strategy, we are going to get our doors blown off.

I disagree. The world has changed and if we do not change as well, we are going to be left behind. We have to adapt to the changing landscape of college sports. If you don't want to participate in D1 sports at Davis, then we should withdraw from D1 status and return to D2 status. Watch and see in the coming years as we start playing in the Mountain West Conference. Our decision to keep the status quo will be exposed pretty quickly and you will be just like me asking for changes.

The future can be really bright or we can waste it and just be a bottom feeder.

Wow, I feel like we are getting left behind.

I love what SACST is doing. They are taking a risk and understand there is a void in top college athletics in the NorCAL area. So many good players leave the area to play D1 football. If they can capitalize on the name recognition and win games the school is going to get more recognition and more $$. Very smart.

Wow! SACST got Rashada? That is wild. That kid is very good. I might have to go to some SACST games this year. That team is going to be entertaining.

Def going to Washington and seeing the Ags play in Husky stadium one of the best stadiums in college football.

how about stop pretending we are still a D2 program? If we commit to a winning program the students will come. We have to strive to be better on the court. If we are satisfied with being mediocre why would students care about the team?

When we move to the Mountain West the competition is going to get a lot better. You want to see Davis be seen as a loser program? Give the students some hope. Give them a reason to cheer for the program.

Knee jerk? Coach Les has been head of mens basketball for over 10 years. Go ask anyone on campus who their favorite mens basketball player is, or even what the name of the coach of basketball is, and there is your answer.

what does that have to do with UC Davis putting out a winning basketball program? Why are we defending mediocre?

instead of being defensive ask yourself why is there no excitement at UV Davis men’s basketball?

Coach Mike Bibby on mission and plan

Watch this video. There is an excitement to the program. He is getting calls from NBA players about coaching their sons. He is looking to build something. If has been sent over 200 recruit videos in his first year....look out.

The one key thing I have not seen is a local reporter asking UCD coach Les his opinion on SACST which is wild. We are going to be forced to change, because the status quo is not going to work anymore.

The whole point of athletics especially at the D1 level is to win. If we win we get more exposure to the university itself. Look at Gonzaga, Duke, etc. I'm surprised anyone would be ok with being below average in anything. Look, if you didn't want to compete at the D1 level, we should have stayed D2, but we are not D2, we are D1. We have to start winning so the athletic program can start generating money to pay for travel and other operating expenses in the future. This is the business of D1 sports.

Coach Les I'm sure is a great human being, but what has he won? Nothing. The team is not getting better it is getting worse. The student body is not interested enough to invest their time and money into watching this team. Fine keep him and this staff on for another year. Keep him for the next decade, guess what? UCD is going to win anything and apathy will continue to fester.

I give it a year, because I think SACST is going to have a really good year in football and basketball. And once those seats start selling out because people enjoy winning programs, you will see UCD have to make a move just to stay relevant.

It it ok to have high expectations of our coaches. It is ok to say "The results for the past 10 years were fine, but we expect better." If next year Coach Les somehow puts together a winning team that wins the conference ok...he bought some time. But if he finishes with another losing record or lower than 3rd in conference you have to replace him.