The cat is out of the bag, as they say

Whew - that was some game! I wasn't sure fatigue wouldn't do us in but OMG the women just kept the effort up. Norris had a horrid shooting night - except for those 3s toward the end when they were needed. She did great vacuuming up the rebounds, though. And the John Havlicek award has to go to Baker. She came in, jump started things, made some key buckets, got hands in for steals, and eventually fouled out but a huge effort. Do you think they know who John Havlicek was?

Wish there were more people there.

I salute the solitary band member who stood for the national anthem.

Jumping right into the fire opening the season at Texas. It would be amazing to snag a win against one of the best baseball programs in the nation.

Ouch. Total butt kick.

Men's game is a dumpster fire, but the women's game just entered 3OT!

on this note…I bought a tickets for a Tennessee game last year from a 3rd party app a few moths before the game and early during that game week I received an email from one of Development Officers at UTK asking who/what/when/where/why I bought tickets…as below:

We’re excited to welcome you to Neyland Stadium as the Vols take on Vanderbilt!

My name is Mike Nguyen, and I serve as a Development Officer in the Tennessee Fund. I have the privilege of working with Tennessee donors and season ticket holders who are passionate about supporting the Vols.

Since you’ve secured tickets for this game, I’d love to learn about your connection to Tennessee and discuss how you can become more involved with Tennessee Athletics – whether that’s through season tickets, premium seating, or increasing your engagement through philanthropic giving in our Shareholders Society.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Go Big Orange!

Two sides to this - they have more resources to email every single game ticket purchaser to every game but they also attempt to cultivate the casual fan into a donating fan. Ive even seen this in Berkeley. I’ve not seen this when I’ve bought UCD tickets.

My point is, along with not marketing in our nearby population centers (Sac), we do not seem to be doing much to get money from anyone who isn’t already giving money. If we did, I think we’d be even more incredibly funded across ICA and maybe we’d still have an equestrian team.

it’s because there is ZERO marketing in Sac. Plenty of Sac St. stuff, but we don’t spend a dime up in Sac to market athletics across the Causeway. Seems like a little dime could go a long ways.

Its because we've historically drawn around 4,000-6,000 non-students/band/player family for a majority of games since 2006.

Some on here might argue that number is lower.

Attendance has been increasing steadily since 2003 though, which is great. Program improvements can be attributed to this, for sure. Things are headed in the right direction.

D2 Toomey ~6k avg.--> D1 Great West @ Aggie Stadium ~8k avg.---> D1 Big Sky @ Aggie Stadium ~10k avg.

Idk why everyone is questioning attendance when Davis broke their attendance last season with 17k fans in attendance… In a 10k seat stadium… playing a FCS team. Attendance will be fine when the move up happens in a couple years. As long as the on field product is good, people will be interested. The admins still have work to do to make the game day experience and advertising up to par.

Anyone responding please add what needs to be done to make it work, not why it won’t work. We should always try to add what needs to be improved instead of why it won’t work. It’s fine to be realistic about things not being great now but the school is moving in the right direction.

It would mean a lot if folks who go update those who can’t in the board about the event :)

Less than 20 spots still available so get off the fence and purchase. There are two items on an early bird silent auction (one is great for out of town football game visitors). Other auction items will go live using the link below soon, running through the event. Sign up below and bid using link here:

https://paybee.io/quickpay.html?handle=ucdfootball#campaignList

I don't see a mention of FBS as a goal; it is more of a statement of fact:

"In today's evolving college football landscape, opportunities at the Football Bowl Subdivision level continue to grow. With this extension, DeLuca, the athletic department and Plough have reaffirmed their shared commitment to the long-term success of Aggie football on the national stage."

I am fired-up that Plough was extended and it's positive news coming out of Davis during the doldrums of pre-Spring Football. I share RollOn's perspective though that the statement was a hype piece; a combination of hyperbole and vision casting without much meat on the bone aside from the fact that Plough will be driving the ship as long as he wants to, which I think we are all behind in support.

4.5 point underdogs with BetMGM giving Triton’s a 60% chance of covering the spread. Loss at home was tough. Up 6 at half in a defensive struggle; lose giving up 55 in the second half. That second half they looked as good as anyone offensively with their motion and passing leading to great shots.

I remember a couple years back (2024) when they walloped us at home (92-59) with starters in late raining down 3’s and having a good old time doing so. We went back there and beat them in a tough rematch, a game in the 70’s. Hopefully history repeats. I really disliked Bryce Pope and his short-shorts after that first game!

I’ve written quite a few media releases and this isn’t an admission of anything. It’s the typical big dreams and big words format to make it sound like something, at least is terms of the future of the programs status.

Love signing Plough….would also love to see the contract terms which I believe would tell us a LOT more than a glossy statement about a contract.

Personal commitment and program stability. Hard to find in college athletics these days.

We’re lucky to have him.

Signed Steph Curry jersey is bound to be a hot item also.

(Link to the podcast where he talks about this)

Some great stuff was talked about from Sam Herder who I see as the most credible FCS/G5 reporter):
1. He sees us as one of 3 teams that will move to the FBS (Sac State, Tarleton, UC Davis)
2. He talks about NDSU moving as important because it situates them as a member of the FBS for now, and promises them a seat if the power 4 separates from the g5
3. He talks about how there is a chance that the g5 merges with the top of the FCS, but the g5 could also try and keep fcs teams out of that new level of division if the power 4 split happens (with the g5 teams not wanting to water down their already relegated new league)
4. Sees the NDSU move (and any FBS move) to give teams head starts in recruiting, infrastructure, positioning if a power 4 split happens that teams still in the FCS wont have
6. Does not see Montana State and Montana, SDSU or other Dakota schools moving to the FBS soon
5. Sees UC Davis as one of those teams that could fill the hole with NDSU leaving (at least before UC Davis moves)

His analysis really suggests to me that UC Davis to the Mountain West is likely not a matter of if it happens but a matter of a few years.

until 2031. Boom! https://x.com/i/status/2021678123289338162

To be fair though......across the entire FCS the average is 69% Revenues from Tax Payers/Student Fees. Its not 80%, but its still high.

https://knightnewhousedata.org/fcs

When you look at the averages across the board, Davis isn't that far out of whack.

This goes to show what I was saying about football meaning something completely different in North Dakota, both to the University and the community.

Insane how Sac is in worse shape than us, yet still somehow printing money to improve the program and move up. I'm still enjoying watching the two programs go about things in completely different ways.

THE CALIFORNIA WAY!!! TAX, TAX, TAX.

Going back to my proposal to spend money to make money by expanding the Athletic Department staff to include specific "teams" to attack various areas of operations, the 9% Donors/Corporate Sponsors is 20% less than NDSU (which is laughable given the locations of the two schools). To me, those are two distinct areas for fundraising; donors (private, alumni) and corporate sponsors, and require specific personnel/teams to address those areas. Until we grow the Department, the current staff, bless their hearts, are going to wear too many hats and be stretched too thin to get that place to where it can potentially be support-wise.

Another big thing for me: Joining the MW for football gives us a HELL OF A LOT larger exposure than playing all our games on ESPN+. Imagine how many alumni could be aware of games...

Interesting data from 2024.

Click on the links and when you hit the web page click on "Where the Money Comes From"

North Dakota State
29% of Revenues from Donors/Corporate Sponsors
15% of Revenues from Ticket Sales
30% of Revenues from Tax Payers/Student Fees

Sacramento State
3% of Revenues from Donors/Corporate Sponsors
1% of Revenues from Ticket Sales
87% of Revenues from Tax Payers/Student Fees

UC Davis
9% of Revenues from Donors/Corporate Sponsors
2% of Revenues from Ticket Sales
80% of Revenues from Tax Payers/Student Fees

Have fun defending yourself against the UC. The UC is a law firm that sometimes dabbles in education.

aligned with their fiscal year. So, donations up to June 30 lock in your benefits for 2026-27 season.

The thing that makes the arse pucker up for me in paying the $17 mil to go FBS now is the forthcoming College Football Super League scenario in the next 5 to 6 years.

What if the relatively new FBS program doesn't make the cut and is relegated down?--->If that happens, what makes that situation significantly better than being in FCS?

(don't get me wrong - I want to see UC Davis as prominent a football and overall athletics program as possible. as a newbie family, we donated what we could in the Fall Quarter and will again in the Spring).

I like this post! :100:

Speaking for myself, winning an FCS national championship is not a pre-req for moving up; it is my opinion that given the current trajectory, we are heading in that direction. Even if the Ags never win that specific game, its a moonshot and having a consistently elite FCS team will make the transformation to FBS easier because it means that we have better players, financial commitments, etc. Better prepared for the rigors that schedule and competition will present.

I see no issue with NDSU moving-up. I would consider them better suited today for the move than UC Davis.

RollOn is spot-on with trying to lock in the fee number now, it will only go up if not addressed.

Bottom line is that no one is every fully ready for that transition. My "argument" is to make it as painless as possible by continuing to build up what we have until the time comes in the next 3-5 years. Have a clear path with tangible goals. Novel concept.