The UC Davis Aggies (also referred to as the Ags or Aggies) are the athletic teams that represent the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

. Seventeen of the school's 25 intercollegiate sports - baseball, men's basketball, men's cross country, men's golf, men's soccer, men's tennis, men's track & field, softball, women's basketball, women's beach volleyball, women's cross country, women's golf, women's soccer, women's tennis, women's track & field, women's volleyball and women's water polo - compete in the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

. The Aggies'

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team compete in Division I

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

(FCS) (formerly known as Division I-AA), and are members of the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

, granting UC Davis the distinction of being one of only three UC campuses to field a football team ( Cal and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

being the other two). The Aggies are also members of the

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the western United States, although it now has members as far east as Pennsylvania. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I ...

in women's indoor track and field, women's gymnastics, and women's swimming and diving, the

America East Conference The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference has nine core members including eight public research ...

in field hockey, the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fro ...

for equestrian and the

Western Water Polo Association The Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) is a single sport intercollegiate college athletic conference sponsoring men's and women's water polo. The WWPA is affiliated with the NCAA, and includes 15 member institutions, mostly in California, w ...

for men's water polo. The Aggies women's lacrosse team will join th
Pac-12 Conference
as an affiliate member.

Nickname

The "Aggies" is UC Davis' official team nickname. This reflects the school's previous name, College of Agriculture at Davis.

History

Division II (1990–2003)

The Aggies finished first in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

six times in 2003 and won the

NACDA Director's Cup The NACDA Directors' Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the NACDA Learfield Directors' Cup or simply as the Directors' Cup, is an award given annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the colleges and univers ...

four years in a row from 1999 to 2003. In 1998, the UC Davis men's basketball team won the

NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship The NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament (officially styled by the NCAA as a "Championship" instead of a "Tournament") is an annual championship tournament for colleges and universities that are members of NCAA Division II, a grouping of ...

, despite being one of the few non-scholarship institutions in Division II at that time. UC Davis also won NCAA Division II championships in softball (2003), men's tennis (1992), and women's tennis (1990, 1993).

Division I (2004–present)

The Aggies' achievements in Division II motivated a decision (following a year of heavy discussion by campus administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni and the local community) in 2003 for the athletics program to reclassify to Division I. The department became a full-fledged D-I program on July 1, 2007.

Sports sponsored

Baseball

Aggies congratulate Matt Dempsey (468959994) (cropped)

The UC Davis Aggies baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate athletic baseball team of the University of California, Davis. The team is a member of the Big West Conference, which is part of the NCAA Division I. The team plays its home games at Phil Swimley Field at the 3,500-seat

Dobbins Stadium Dobbins Stadium is a baseball stadium in Davis, California Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including ...

. Former Stanford and Texas assistant coach Tommy Nicholson was hired as th
11th head coach
in program history on December 11, 2021.

Basketball

Men's basketball

The school's team currently competes in the Big West Conference, which is part of the NCAA Division I. UC Davis' first men's basketball team was fielded during the 1910–11 season. UC Davis won an

national championship in 1998 and had 12 postseason appearances. The team plays its home games at a 7,600-seat arena called

University Credit Union Center The University Credit Union Center (previously known as Recreation Hall and The Pavilion at the ARC and commonly known as The Pavilion) is an 7,600-seat indoor multi-purpose stadium on the campus of the University of California, Davis in uninco ...

. The 2022-23 season is head coach

Jim Les James Alan Les (born August 18, 1963) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the UC Davis Aggies men's team. A former point guard, Les played seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after his ...

12th with the program. During his tenure with the Aggies, the men's basketball team earned its inaugural Big West championship and first

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

appearance in 2017. Les, along with associate head coach Kevin Nosek and assistant coaches Jonathan Metzger-Jones and Kyle Vogt entered their seventh season together in 2022-23.

Women's basketball

Following a successful stint as an NCAA Division II program, the UC Davis women's basketball team began its transition to the NCAA Division I level in 2003–04, officially competing as a member of the Big West Conference in 2007–08.The team plays its home games at a 7,600-seat arena called

. The Aggies have won six Big West Conference regular season titles (2009–10, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020-21) and three Big West Tournament titles (2011, 2019, 2021) in their combined 15 Division I seasons. UC Davis is one of three schools in league history to win at least four consecutive Big West regular season titles, joining UC Santa Barbara (1996–2005) and Long Beach State (1985–1989). The Aggies have advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times in 2011, 2019 and 2021 as the automatic qualifier from the Big West Conference and has earned five berths to the WNIT, including an "Elite Eight" appearance in 2018 and a "Sweet 16" appearance in 2017.

Football

The UC Davis Aggies football team represents UC Davis in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

(FCS). The football program's first season took place in 1915 and has fielded a team each year since with the exception of 1918 during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and from 1943 to 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when the campus, then known as the University Farm, was shut down. The team plays its home games at the 10,473-seat

UC Davis Health Stadium UC Davis Health Stadium is a 10,743-seat multi-purpose stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of the University of California, Davis in unincorporated Yolo County, California. Opened as Aggie Stadium on April 1, 2007, it replac ...

. UC Davis competed as a member of the NCAA College Division through 1972; from 1973 to 2003, the Aggies competed as an

program. In 2004, UC Davis promoted its football program to the Division I FCS (then I-AA) level and joined the

Great West Conference The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football followin ...

(then known as the Great West Football Conference) after one season as an independent team with exploratory status. After their provisional seasons and the construction of a new stadium, UC Davis became a full member of Division I in 2007 and eligible for the postseason. Stanford vs

Throughout its history, the football program won 31 conference championships. Between 1929 and 1992, the Aggies captured 27 outright or shared

Northern California Athletic Conference The Northern California Athletic Conference (NCAC) was an NCAA Division II college athletic association that sponsored American football that was founded in 1925. It disbanded in 1998 after the majority of its member schools were forced to drop fo ...

championships, including 20 in a row from 1971 to 1990, an

American West Conference The American West Conference (AWC) was a college athletic conference in the United States from 1993 to 1996. It consisted of schools in California and Utah. The charter members of the conference were California Polytechnic State University; ...

title in 1993 (co-champion), and GWFC/GWC championships in 2005 (co-champ) and 2009. The Aggies won their first football title as a Division I program in 2018 as one of the

's three regular season champions.

Men's soccer

The UC Davis Aggies men's soccer team have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 1–3 through three appearances.

Men's water polo

The UC Davis Aggies men's water polo team have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 1-7 through eight appearances.

Championships

Team championships

UC Davis has not won a national championship at the NCAA Division I level, but previously won eight national championships at the NCAA Division II level.

NCAA Division II National Championships

* Men's basketball: 1998 * Men's golf: 1979 * Women's rowing: 2002, 2003 * Softball: 2003 * Men's tennis: 1992 * Women's tennis: 1990, 1993

Non-NCAA National Championships

* Women's gymnastics – Division III: 1981 (

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

) * Women's tennis – Division III: 1980, 1981 (AIAW)

Team tournament appearances

NCAA

*Baseball (1): 2008 *Men's basketball (1): 2017 *Women's basketball (2): 2011, 2019, 2021 *Football (1): 2018, 2021 *Women's golf (4): 2008, 2011, 2013, 2015 *Women's gymnastics (2): 1998, 2014 *Men's soccer (3): 2007, 2008, 2019 *Softball (1): 2010 *Men's outdoor track and field (2): 1941, 1974 *Women's indoor track and field (1): 2019 *Women's outdoor track and field (6): 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 *Men's water polo (7): 1974, 1975, 1996, 1997, 2016, 2017, 2019 *Women's water polo (3): 2006, 2008, 2015

Individual championships

At the NCAA Division II level, UC Davis garnered 72 individual championships.

Athletic facilities
/h1>
* Aggie Field Hockey Facility – field hockey * Aggie Soccer Field – men's and women's soccer
Edwards Family Athletics Center
Hickey Gymnasium – administrative offices and basketball, gymnastics, volleyball practice centers La Rue Field – softball Marya Welch Tennis Center – men's and women's tennis
University Credit Union Center The University Credit Union Center (previously known as Recreation Hall and The Pavilion at the ARC and commonly known as The Pavilion) is an 7,600-seat indoor multi-purpose stadium on the campus of the University of California, Davis in uninco ...
– men's and women's basketball, women's gymnastics, women's volleyball Phil Swimley Field at
Dobbins Stadium Dobbins Stadium is a baseball stadium in Davis, California Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including ...
– baseball
Schaal Aquatics Center
– women's swimming and diving, men's and women's water polo
Toomey Weight Room

UC Davis Health Stadium UC Davis Health Stadium is a 10,743-seat multi-purpose stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of the University of California, Davis in unincorporated Yolo County, California. Opened as Aggie Stadium on April 1, 2007, it replac ...
– football and lacrosse UC Davis Beach Volleyball Courts – women's beach volleyball Woody Wilson Track at
Toomey Field Toomey Field is a track and field stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of the University of California, Davis in unincorporated Yolo County, California. The Woody Wilson Track is located in the stadium and it is home to the ...
– men's and women's outdoor track and field

Traditions

Colors, mascot, and spirit
The official school colors are blue and gold. The blue is due to the UC's early connection to Yale and as a result was referred to as "
Yale Blue Yale Blue is the dark azure color used in association with Yale University. History Since the 1850s, Yale Crew has rowed in blue uniforms, and in 1894, "dark blue" was officially adopted as Yale's color, after half a century of the univer ...
", but UC Davis' official blue, usually called "Aggie Blue", Pantone 295 differs from Yale Blue (approximately Pantone 289). The official school mascot is a
mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once- domesticated animals, the ...
named
Gunrock Gunrock is the official mascot of the UC Davis Aggies. He is named after Gun Rock, who was born in 1914 and was the offspring of English Triple Crown winner Rock Sand and race mare Gunfire. His bloodlines are similar to those of racehorse Man O' ...
. The name dates to 1921 when the US Army brought a horse named Gun Rock to UC Davis to supply high-quality stock for cavalry horses; the mustang mascot was selected to honor that cavalry horse. Students at UC Davis are referred to as Aggies in honor of the school's agricultural heritage. Unlike most colleges, there is a distinction between the name for students and the mascot. There was a movement to change the school's mascot from the mustang to the
cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
, but despite student support this was turned down after opposition from alumni. UC Davis students gather at sporting events to rally as the Aggie Pack, the largest student-run school spirit organization in the United States, which supports its intercollegiate athletics teams to the music of the UC Davis Marching Band.

Rivalries
The highlight of the four-year transition to Division I occurred on September 17, 2005, when the Aggies football team defeated the heavily favored Stanford Cardinal at
Stanford Stadium Stanford Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. It is the home of the Stanford Cardinal and hosts the university's commencemen ...
by a score of 20–17 on a touchdown pass with eight seconds left in the game. The Aggies also pulled off an upset against Stanford in basketball just months later, beating the Cardinal 64–58 with a late rally at home on December 4, 2005. Wins in these two major sports, with the addition of victories against the Cardinal in soccer, wrestling and two wins in baseball pulled the Aggies' men's sports' win–loss record against Stanford to 5–1 for the 2005–06 season. Aggie football plays
Sacramento State California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...
in the annual
Causeway Classic The Causeway Classic is the annual college football game between the Sacramento State Hornets and the UC Davis Aggies in the United States. The teams exchange a Causeway Classic Trophy made from cement taken from the Yolo Causeway. History of ...
for a trophy made from
Yolo Causeway The Yolo Causeway is a long elevated highway viaduct on Interstate 80 that crosses the Yolo Bypass floodplain, connecting the cities of West Sacramento, California and Davis, California. It is officially named the Blecher-Freeman Memorial Caus ...
cement (formerly the Causeway Carriage). The Causeway Classic is part of a larger competition, the Causeway Cup, that tracks head-to-head meetings between the schools' common intercollegiate athletics programs. The football team also faces Cal Poly in the annual
Battle for the Golden Horseshoe The Battle for the Golden Horseshoe is an annual rivalry college football game played between the UC Davis Aggies and the Cal Poly Mustangs. Although the two teams have met on the gridiron since 1939, the rivalry officially began in name with ...
.

Former varsity sports
On April 20, 2010, the school announced that four sports, women's rowing, men's swimming and diving, men's indoor track and field, and wrestling, would be eliminated due to a financial crisis and cuts in state funding. Prior to 2010, the last time UC Davis had discontinued a sport was men's gymnastics in 1987.

Non-varsity sports

Rugby
Colby "Babe" Slater, won gold medals with the U.S. rugby national team at the 1920 and 1924 Olympics, and was captain of the 1924 team. The UC Davis Aggies won the men's 2015 DI-AA
college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...
championship by defeating
Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...
in the final 18–15 at Kennesaw State University's Fifth Third Bank Stadium. The men repeated as the 2016 D1-AA as national champions by defeating the Notre Dame College of South Euclid, Ohio, in the final by a score of 17–13. The UC Davis Aggies won the women's 2016 D1 college rugby national championship by defeating the University of Virginia, 30–25, at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California. Club national team championships * Co-ed archery (1): 2015 ( USA Archery) * Men's archery (1): 2016 (USA Archery) * Women's archery (1): 2016 (USA Archery) * Men's boxing (1): 2013 ( USIBA) * Co-ed cycling (4): 1994, 2001, 2006, 2009 (
USA Cycling USA Cycling or USAC, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the national governing body for bicycle racing in the United States. It covers the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, and BMX across all ages and ability leve ...
) * Men's polo (2): 1975, 1979 ( USPA) * Men's rugby (2) – Division I-AA: 2015, 2016 (
USA Rugby USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugb ...
) * Women's rugby – Division I (2): 2016, 2017 (USA Rugby) * Women's ultimate (2): 1989, 2004 (
USA Ultimate USA Ultimate is a not-for-profit organization that serves as the governing body of the sport of ultimate (also known as ''ultimate Frisbee'') in the United States. It was founded in 1979 as the Ultimate Players Association, but rebranded itself ...
) * Co-ed water skiing – Division II (1): 2013 ( NCWSA) Note: For sports with no division noted, the title was earned at the top-most level.

References

External links
* {{Portal bar, California