One year down, three to go
Roadmap to D-I
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By ANGELA DAPRATO
As UC Davis completes its first season in its four-year transition to Division I, the Aggies are saying "goodbye" to the California Collegiate Athletic Association and "hello" to the Big West and Great West Football Conference.
Despite this season's being UCD's first provisional year, there were minor changes in the 2003-2004 Aggies' opponents. Although some teams branched out and included more D-I schools on their schedule, for the most part the Aggies competed in their same respective conference against D-II opponents.
Yet, this upcoming 2004-2005 season UCD will face its greatest challenge as most Aggie teams pack their schedules with D-I opponents.
UCD was the most successful Division II program in the nation when it voted to go D-I in 2003. This is evident by the Aggies winning six out of the last eight National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, Directors Cups. The award by the NACDA got to be an annual tradition for the Aggie athletic program, and other D-II schools had to feel like UCD was indisputably a "big fish," in a little pond.
Going D-I from Scratch
Like many UCD coaches have said throughout the season when asked about the transition to D-I, "Things will not change overnight, but it is going to be a process."
Schools like California State University, Sacramento struggle to fill the football and basketball venues and are floundering in D-I, rarely playing for any championships in any sport.
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