What the US News Rankings Tell Us About UCD Football (Quite a Bit, Actually)

rankingsSometimes we just have to face hard truths: even though UC Davis football season is in full swing, even though we just got our first win in the most spectacular fashion, even though we’re currently living in some of the most exciting times our athletics program has ever faced, most Aggie students probably won’t care what happens to our sports program in the next few months.

Why is this? It’s partly because our teams generally have a reputation of being subpar. However, most UCD students probably couldn’t recount the current win-loss record of any team, so the stigma explanation only goes so far.
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Some Great News

This week I committed to studying abroad in at Oxford University in Great Britain! It’s a four-week summer program through the UCs that focuses on classic fantasy inspired by the environment at Oxford. Expect to hear about it some more on the blog as summer comes closer.

Public domain photo from Wikimedia Commons

Public domain photo from Wikimedia Commons

Report Card: UC Football Programs

The conclusion of UCLA’s football season with a Sun Bowl victory marked the end of a turbulent season for the three existing University of California football teams. These three teams — the up-and-coming UCLA Bruins, the struggling California Bears, and the harder-to-quantify UC Davis Aggies — are the only surviving programs in a university system infamous for budgetary issues. As such, they must often face scrutiny and existential questions from their campus and community that other programs may avoid. Let’s take a look at how they rose to the challenge in 2013.

Video intro at UCLA's home opener against Nevada

Video intro at UCLA’s home opener against Nevada

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There’s Nothing Wrong with the Stanford Band

In the wake of the Rose Bowl, Internet comment threads are awash with fury over the unorthodox nature of the Stanford Band (officially called the LSJUMB). Sure, the band’s organization, gloss, and performing presence are miles away from that of bands like Wisconsin’s, but the people who complain about their silly antics are missing the point.

The 2013 Rose Bowl performance of Stanford’s informal fight song (not my video):


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