The UC Davis Aggies (also referred to as the Ags, Cal Aggies, or Aggies) are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Davis .
60-692: Eighteen 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, men's water polo, 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 Aggies' football team compete in Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) (formerly known as Division I-AA), and are members of
120-570: A "Sweet 16" appearance in 2017. The UC Davis Aggies football team represents UC Davis in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (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 and from 1943 to 1945 during World War II , when the campus, then known as the University Farm, was shut down. The team plays its home games at
180-582: A 7,600-seat arena called University Credit Union Center . The 2022–23 season is head coach Jim Les 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 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. Following
240-649: A Division I program in 2018 as one of the Big Sky Conference 's three regular season champions. Became Big West Conference Tournament Champions in 2019 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time (2007, 2008, 2019) in program history. The UC Davis Aggies men's soccer team have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 1–3 through three appearances. The UC Davis Aggies men's water polo team has won seven WWPA title, including back-to-back championships in 2021 and 2022. The Aggies have appeared in
300-508: A brilliant 2023 campaign. Ho guided the Aggies to the MPSF title as the No. 2 championship seed with a team national qualifying score of 195.965. UC Davis broke 196 in five meets, including the 196.200 en route to the team title. The Aggies totaled three of the MPSF's top-nine all-time scores in the final month of the regular season, including the No. 2 all-time ranking of 196.750. The last eight meets of
360-518: A part of Big West Conference women's volleyball , with national championships in 1989, 1993, and 1998. Misty May-Treanor led the 49ers (now known as Beach) to a 36–0 record en route to the program's most recent title. UC Santa Barbara was the NCAA men's soccer runner-up in 2004, losing the national championship match to Indiana on penalty kicks. The Gauchos returned to the College Cup in 2006 and won
420-612: A share of the Big West Conference title in 2009, their first championship in program history at the Division I level. In 2015, the Aggie made history by winning the Big West Conference Tournament to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. UC Davis swimming and diving has captured four MPSF titles (2011, 2013, 2014, 2016) since its ascension to the Division I level. In 2016, Hilvy Cheung raced in
480-661: 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 University Credit Union Center . 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
540-518: Is chosen for each state plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. From those 52 state-level honorees, the NCAA selects 10 finalists. The winner is then chosen at an annual televised banquet. Remarkably, the Aggies’ All-American 4x400 relay team at the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Championships featured three finalists: 2001 finalist Kameelah Elarms was the leadoff runner, 2002 winner Tanisha Silas ran
600-536: Is led by the three-time Big West Golfer of the Year and former LPGA Tour professional Demi Runas. Runas was the first Aggie to earn her LPGA Tour card. The Aggies have posted 23 team wins as well as 22 individual victories since the program started in 2005, also making four NCAA Tournament appearances (2008, 2011, 2013, 2015) over that time. Led by Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame student-athlete Tanya Ho, UC Davis gymnastics earned their first conference title since 2015 after
660-844: Is located in Hawaii (though the Hawaii member is leaving for the Mountain West Conference , effective July 1, 2026). All of the schools are public universities, with the California schools evenly split between the California State University and the University of California systems. In addition, one affiliate member plays two sports in the BWC not sponsored by its home conference. The Big West Conference
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#1732782429835720-457: 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
780-851: Is the highest total of any men's or women's team sponsored by the Big West. As a Division II team, UC Davis captured the California Collegiate Athletic Association title three times in a row from 1999 to 2002. UC Davis became a Big 12 affiliate member for that conference's first season of women's lacrosse in 2024–25, following the 2024 collapse of its former women's lacrosse home of the Pac-12 Conference . The Aggies had only joined Pac-12 women's lacrosse in 2023–24. Led by three-time Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Coach of
840-772: The Big 12 Conference in women's lacrosse. The "Aggies" is UC Davis' official team nickname because of the university's agricultural origins. The university was previously called the College of Agriculture at Davis because it was part of UC Berkeley until it was separated in 1959 by the UC Regents. Davis began its athletics program with football in 1915 as part of the University of California team. The Aggies finished first in NCAA Division II six times in 2003 and won
900-692: The Big Sky Conference , granting UC Davis the distinction of being one of only three UC campuses to field a football team ( Cal and UCLA being the other two). The Aggies are also members of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in women's indoor track and field, women's gymnastics, and women's swimming and diving, the America East Conference in field hockey, the Eastern College Athletic Conference for equestrian, and
960-423: The Mountain West Conference , while others did not see the benefit of travel since historically many of the teams have been California-based. From the departures of Idaho and Utah State in 2005 until the arrival of Hawaii in 2012, all members were based in California, reducing the cost and travel time between the universities. When Hawaii joined, it agreed to help defray a portion of travel costs to that state for
1020-628: The NACDA Director's Cup 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 , 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). In November 2002, UC Davis students voted to elevate
1080-738: The National Collegiate Athletic Association 's Division I . The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association ( PCAA ), and in 1988 was renamed the Big West Conference. The conference stopped sponsoring college football after the 2000 season. Among the conference's 11 member institutions, 10 are located in California (nine in Southern California alone), and one
1140-699: The 10,473-seat UC Davis Health Stadium . UC Davis competed as a member of the NCAA College Division through 1972; from 1973 to 2003, the Aggies competed as an NCAA Division II program. In 2004, UC Davis promoted its football program to the Division I FCS (then I-AA) level and joined the Great West Conference (then known as the Great West Football Conference) after one season as an independent team with exploratory status. After their provisional seasons and
1200-708: The 200- and 400-meter dashes at the championship meet, while helping both relay squads to top-three finishes. He had the league's fastest 400 time of the year, breaking Brian Thomas' school record with a time of 46.36 seconds at the CSUN Red & Black Invite on April 2. Okonkwo's winning 21.23 clocking in the 200 at conference currently ranks second in the Big West and fourth in school history. School Records UC Davis men's golf has tallied 41 team wins and 53 individual victories dating back to 1993. School Records UC Davis captured its first Big West Championship in 2010 when individual conference champion Jonathan Peterson led
1260-540: The 2024 season. The Aggies faced five Pac-12 opponents in 2022, posting wins over Cal and Oregon while also going 1–1 against San Diego State. UC Davis women's volleyball ascended to the Division I level ahead of the 2004 season and have not won a conference title since the reclassification. Head Coach Dan Conners will enter his 10th season in 2023. UC Davis Softball ascended to the Division I level in 2008 and claimed their first Big West Conference title in 2010 under Head Coach Karen Yoder. UC Davis women's water polo earned
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#17327824298351320-484: The 3,500-seat Dobbins Stadium . Former Stanford and Texas assistant coach Tommy Nicholson was hired as the 11th head coach in program history on December 11, 2021. 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 NCAA Division II national championship in 1998 and had 12 postseason appearances. The team plays its home games at
1380-410: The Aggies to their historic victory. Records UC Davis added beach volleyball ahead of the 2019 season, joining Equestrian as the department's newest sports. The Aggies opened their historic first season with a 2–0 record and enjoyed success in their most recent campaign, posting their best start to a season (9–0) in program history. UC Davis added field hockey ahead of the 2009 season, competing in
1440-439: The Division I level in men's volleyball; the NCAA conducts a single national championship open to all Division I and II members, and scholarship limits in the sport are the same in both divisions. The Big West regular season for men's volleyball will be a double round-robin, with each team playing the others once at home and once on the road. The Big West Tournament will have all six teams participate in single-elimination rounds with
1500-479: The MPSF to establish the new men's volleyball league. Men's volleyball is the third of four sports in which the MPSF has recently seen a mass exodus of teams to join an existing conference in a newly sponsored sport, with men's soccer, men's water polo, and women's lacrosse as the others. The men's volleyball membership includes core Big West members Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, Hawaii, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Barbara. UC San Diego joined as an affiliate to bring
1560-540: The NCAA Division I Tournament nine times in the program's history. 2015, 2023 Big West Tri-Champions. In 2015, the Aggies earned a program-best 17 wins at the Division I level. In 2016, Alec Adamson became the first UC Davis men's tennis player to be named the Big West Player of the Year and was the first Aggie at the Division I level to earn a berth into the NCAA Singles Tournament, finishing
1620-499: The NCAA does not sponsor a Division II championship in either men's volleyball or women's water polo, UCSD was eligible for conference championships in both sports upon joining the Big West, and will remain eligible for such during the D-I transition. UC San Diego and Cal State Bakersfield, the latter now in the process of rebranding its athletic program as Bakersfield, officially joined the conference on July 1, 2020, and Dan Butterly became
1680-488: The NCAA prelim for the 200m butterfly, making the Aggies' first appearance on the national stage. Records 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. Big West Conference The Big West Conference ( BWC ) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in
1740-696: The NorPac conference. The Aggies joined the American East in 2015 and remain in the conference heading into 2023. UC Davis has not posted a winning season since the program's inception, but finished just one game below .500 (8–9) in 2019. In less than half a decade, UC Davis women's track & field boasted three finalists – including two winners – for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, which honors excellence and leadership in athletics, academics and in
1800-554: The PCAA became the first western conference to introduce women's athletic programs, allowing female student-athletes to compete at the same level as their male counterparts. This proved vital for Hawaiʻi as their only participation in the conference was for their women's sports . However, many universities left to join conferences that were perceived as more well-known, such as the Western Athletic Conference or
1860-504: The Pacific Coast Athletic Association, the conference has seen many changes. Utah State was the first institution outside California to join the conference in 1978. This opened the floodgates for many other schools to affiliate with the PCAA; notable schools include UNLV , Nevada , Louisiana Tech , Boise State , and football-only members, such as Southwestern Louisiana and Arkansas State . In 1983,
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1920-557: The Record Night" is held during each basketball season to attempt to break the prior attendance record for a basketball game. The current record of 7,926 was set on January 23, 1999, when UC Davis defeated Chico State 102–71. Due to changes in seating configuration however, this record is no longer attainable. Former President Bill Clinton visited UC Davis to gain support for his wife Hillary Clinton 's presidential nomination in 2008. Around 7,800 people were in attendance with
1980-434: The Year (2018, 2019, 2021), Suzanne Isidor captured her first conference title in 2021, leading the Aggies to a program-best 12–4 record. UC Davis has effectively been a partner of fellow California school San Diego State, with both teams having been in MPSF women's lacrosse until that conference dropped women's lacrosse after the 2021 season. Both played as independents for two seasons until joining Pac-12 women's lacrosse for
2040-440: The athletics program to Division I, passing by 8 percent, with 4,638 voters approving a $ 183 annual fee increase earmarked for sports funding through 2008, defeating 3,929 voters against. However, the vote was merely advisory. Following a year of heavy discussion by campus administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni and the local community, taking a cue from the advisory vote, UCD chancellor Larry Vanderhoef officially announced
2100-439: The best college basketball teams of all time. The Pacific Tigers women's volleyball team won back-to-back national championships in 1985 and 1986. The Big West did not sponsor men's volleyball or men's water polo, but it was the primary conference affiliation of several schools that compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for these sports, respectively. In NCAA men's volleyball, UC Irvine has established itself as one of
2160-522: The bowls that invited the Big West champion: Pasadena (1969–70), California (1981–91), Las Vegas (1992–96), and Humanitarian (1997–2000) The Big West Conference discontinued football following the 2000 season. Starting during the Big West Conference's 1998–99 season, the Commissioner's Cup is awarded yearly to the most outstanding program throughout the season in the conference's sponsored sports. The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are
2220-405: The community. Founded in 1991, the award stands as one of the highest honors that national governing body bestows upon an individual. Since then, UC Davis is the only Division II institution to have won the award and is one of just two schools to have three winners (Aggie lacrosse player Kelly Albin captured the honor in 2004). Hundreds of student-athletes are nominated annually, from which one winner
2280-534: The conference in the field of each tournament. Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge participated in 2021 and 2022, respectively. 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 unincorporated Yolo County , California . Recreation Hall
2340-522: The construction of a new stadium, UC Davis became a full member of Division I in 2007 and eligible for the postseason. 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 championships, including 20 in a row from 1971 to 1990, an American West Conference title in 1993 (co-champion), and GWFC/GWC championships in 2005 (co-champ) and 2009. The Aggies won their first football title as
2400-547: The currently existing Pavilion. Since the two buildings have been fused into one massive complex, Recreation Hall's name was changed to The Pavilion at ARC upon the opening of the ARC in 2004. As of July 2021, the Pavilion is known as the University Credit Union Center for sponsorship reasons. As part of UC Davis' 10-year sponsorship agreement with University Credit Union, a Daktronics videoboard
2460-554: The fold, the name change was more representative of its member institutions. In addition, the conference had signed a contract with ESPN to have its men's basketball games telecast as the third game of a triple header known as Big Monday - the other conferences being featured were the Big East and the Big Ten so the name Big West fit the theme. Member departing for the Mountain West Conference in 2026. Many of
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2520-530: The former members of the Big West are now members of the Western Athletic Conference or the Mountain West Conference . Of the nine schools that were in the WAC before its early-2010s realignment , only Hawaii had not spent some time in the Big West as a football participant – it was a Big West member only in women's sports. Of the former members, Cal State Los Angeles is the only team that reverted to Division II level. School names and nicknames reflect those used by
2580-566: The institutions when they were Big West members. One school has changed its name (Southwestern Louisiana, now branded athletically as Louisiana and also known as Louisiana–Lafayette) and another its nickname (Arkansas State, from Indians to Red Wolves). Full members Full members (non-football) Assoc. members (football only) Assoc. member (Other sports) Other Conference Other Conference Notes The Big West Conference currently sponsors 21 NCAA sports, with men's and women's swimming & diving
2640-447: The league to the NCAA minimum requirement of 6 teams to receive an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament. Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell explained that adding UC San Diego was not an indicator UC San Diego would be added to the Big West Conference as a full member. UC San Diego had recently passed a bill to move all their sports to Division I and was looking for an invite from the Big West Conference. UC San Diego has long competed at
2700-476: The league's California members. There have been no fewer than 25 full and associate members in the conference's history, while only two of the original seven charter members remain (Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara, with only Long Beach State's membership being continuous). Effective July 1, 1988, the Pacific Coast Athletic Association changed its name to the Big West Conference. With such schools as Utah State, UNLV, Nevada, New Mexico State, and Hawaii now in
2760-641: The most successful team to date having won 10 total trophies. Note 1: Bold indicates current members of the Big West Conference Note 2: The Pacific Tigers moved to the West Coast Conference in 2013 Since 2021, the Big West Conference has served as host of the SoCal Challenge , an eight-team men's basketball tournament held during Monday and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week. One Big West team represents
2820-480: The nation's most elite programs, winning four national championships in 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2013. Long Beach State also won men's national volleyball titles in 1991, 2018, and 2019. In NCAA men's water polo, UC Irvine won three national championships in 1970, 1982, and 1989. UC Santa Barbara also won a men's water polo title in 1979. On May 31, 2016, the Big West announced the conference would sponsor men's volleyball as its 18th sport, with five Big West schools leaving
2880-439: The national championship. Former Big West members UNLV and Pacific won national championships while part of the conference. The UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball team won the 1990 NCAA tournament championship after routing Duke 103-73 in the national title game. UNLV was undefeated during the 1991 NCAA men's basketball season before falling to Duke in the final four. The Runnin' Rebels during this era are widely considered one of
2940-403: The new commissioner following the retirement of Dennis Farrell. The Big West Conference sponsors championship competition in 9 men's and 10 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Men's and women's swimming & diving will be added in 2024–25. Regular-season champions are indicated with "(RS)" and tournament champions with "(T)". UC Irvine (T) Cal Poly (T) An asterisk denotes the participant in
3000-501: The newest additions for the 2024–25 school year. In baseball, Cal State Fullerton has won four College World Series titles with national championships in 1979, 1984, 1995, and 2004. In addition, Long Beach State and UC Irvine have made multiple appearances in the College World Series. Fullerton also has a national championship in softball, winning in 1984. Long Beach State has won three NCAA women's volleyball titles, as
3060-561: The season all went for at least 195.250. Records UC Davis' six conference wins in 2022 were the most by any UCD team since joining the Big West. UC Davis women's soccer is yet to win a conference title at the Division I level. UC Davis has won three Big West Conference titles (2011, 2014, 2021) since it ascended to the Division I level in 2007. Records In March, 2020, UC Davis women's tennis also earned an NCAA Public Recognition Award for an outstanding Academic Progress Rate (APR) by posting its 12th perfect score in program history. This
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#17327824298353120-410: The third leg and 1999 winner Jamila Demby served as the anchor. Records UC Davis added Equestrian ahead of the 2019 season and the program instantly enjoyed success, earning their first ECAC Championship in 2023. The young team repeated their conference championship in 2024, and qualified for Nationals for the first time in program history as the #8 ranked team in the nation. UC Davis women's golf
3180-645: The top two teams receiving semifinal byes. The Big West is the first Division I all-sports conference (defined as a league that sponsors men's and women's basketball) ever to sponsor men's volleyball, and the second NCAA all-sports conference overall to sponsor men's volleyball as a scholarship sport (the first was the Division II Conference Carolinas ). On November 26, 2017, the Big West announced that it would add UC San Diego along with Cal State Bakersfield as its 10th and 11th members starting on July 1, 2020. Cal State Bakersfield, which
3240-400: The university's move to Division I on March 11, 2003. The department then became a fully fledged D-I program on July 1, 2007. 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
3300-645: The year ranked No. 108 in the nation according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's final poll. Ngoni Makusha, a 2008 Olympian, two-time track athlete of the year and former Drake assistant track and field coach, is UC Davis' men's and women's track & field head coach. UC Davis sprinter Matthew Okonkwo captured a share of the Big West Conference Male Track Athlete of the Year in 2022. Okonkwo captured Big West individual titles in each of
3360-484: Was added to provide game statistics and live replays for Aggie sporting events. The main tenants of The Pavilion are the UC Davis Aggies athletic programs. The UC Davis Aggies men's basketball , women's basketball , women's volleyball and women's gymnastics teams call The Pavilion home. It was the home of the UC Davis Aggies wrestling team until the program was discontinued in 2010. An annual "Break
3420-497: Was already a full Division I member competing in the Western Athletic Conference , became a full member effective July 1, 2020. UC San Diego, which had failed to move up from Division II in failed bids to the Big West in 2011 and April 2017, has begun the four-year transition process to Division I and became a full member effective July 1, 2024. UC San Diego's men's volleyball joined the Big West in 2017, in advance of that sport's 2018 season, and women's water polo joined in 2019. Because
3480-518: Was confirmed in October 1968 on the campus of UC Santa Barbara. Before the league started play, Cal State Los Angeles joined as a full member and the University of the Pacific joined for football only, becoming a full member itself two years later. The conference itself lists July 1, 1969, as its founding date, with the seven institutions beginning conference play that fall. Since its inception as
3540-491: Was formed in June 1968 as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. The five original charter members were Fresno State , San Jose State , UC Santa Barbara , San Diego State , and Long Beach State . Two other schools, Cal State Los Angeles and the University of the Pacific , were also considered but they declined at that time to pursue membership. The newly formed conference had several meetings to set up its governance, which
3600-472: Was opened in 1977 for intercollegiate athletics, as well as other large events such as intramural sports and public events. The capacity of the University Credit Union Center for basketball is over 6,000 people and can provide 150,000 square feet (14,000 m ) of floorspace. In Spring of 2004, UC Davis opened the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC). This structure served as a massive extension to
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