Yeah, that's pretty crazy. My uneducated guess is that was a way Harvard could fit the Davis visit in its schedule. As Bob noted, the Crimson annually plays its season opener during the third week of September. That slot is accounted for in 2028 (Montana State) and 2029 (St. Thomas), although there's nothing slated for 2030 yet.
Harvard also plays 1-2 non-league games in early October – e.g. Colgate and Holy Cross in 2026, Holy Cross and Merrimack in 2025, New Hampshire and Holy Cross in 2024 – but that slot might not jibe with UC Davis' Big Sky schedule. Thus, 2031 was the nearest open opportunity to reciprocate.
Perfectly said, Mark. Last season was the first the Ivy League participated in the FCS playoffs. A sore point with many coaches is they play only 10 games while the rest of the FCS plays 12, and yet their champion gets an automatic playoff bid. I think they may be moving to 11, but I doublt they'll ever go to 12.
Bit of trivia, while this might be the first time UC Davis has played AGAINST an Ivy League school, it will not be the first time the Aggies have played AT an Ivy League school: the 1997 NCAA semifinal heartbreaker against New Haven took place at... the Yale Bowl.
I remember the subsequent 1997 championship game having one painful moment for longtime Aggie fans, and one that would have personally resonated with you, Bob. The TV crew found some Northern Colorado fan waving a cow bell, so the sideline reporter went into the stands to interview her. The fan's explanation was something like "I started doing this midway through the season, people loved it, and it became a tradition." To which the reporter replied with "So you've been waving a cowbell at games for eight whole weeks? That's amazing!"
In that brief little throwaway piece, my heart broke for Flo Nelson and Laureene Hunt, who at that point had probably been waving a cowbell at football games for eight whole Presidents. Had UC Davis held against the Chargers the week before, both Flo and Laureene would have been at the game, and if that reporter spotted the random UNC mom, she certainly would have found our beloved superfans. Florence at Florence? The story would have written itself.
Why the long delay between games?4 years is quite a long time.
Yeah, that's pretty crazy. My uneducated guess is that was a way Harvard could fit the Davis visit in its schedule. As Bob noted, the Crimson annually plays its season opener during the third week of September. That slot is accounted for in 2028 (Montana State) and 2029 (St. Thomas), although there's nothing slated for 2030 yet.
Harvard also plays 1-2 non-league games in early October – e.g. Colgate and Holy Cross in 2026, Holy Cross and Merrimack in 2025, New Hampshire and Holy Cross in 2024 – but that slot might not jibe with UC Davis' Big Sky schedule. Thus, 2031 was the nearest open opportunity to reciprocate.
Perfectly said, Mark. Last season was the first the Ivy League participated in the FCS playoffs. A sore point with many coaches is they play only 10 games while the rest of the FCS plays 12, and yet their champion gets an automatic playoff bid. I think they may be moving to 11, but I doublt they'll ever go to 12.
Just no open dates that matched.
UCLA has been on the 2027 schedule for something like five yeas now.
Bit of trivia, while this might be the first time UC Davis has played AGAINST an Ivy League school, it will not be the first time the Aggies have played AT an Ivy League school: the 1997 NCAA semifinal heartbreaker against New Haven took place at... the Yale Bowl.
I remember the subsequent 1997 championship game having one painful moment for longtime Aggie fans, and one that would have personally resonated with you, Bob. The TV crew found some Northern Colorado fan waving a cow bell, so the sideline reporter went into the stands to interview her. The fan's explanation was something like "I started doing this midway through the season, people loved it, and it became a tradition." To which the reporter replied with "So you've been waving a cowbell at games for eight whole weeks? That's amazing!"
In that brief little throwaway piece, my heart broke for Flo Nelson and Laureene Hunt, who at that point had probably been waving a cowbell at football games for eight whole Presidents. Had UC Davis held against the Chargers the week before, both Flo and Laureene would have been at the game, and if that reporter spotted the random UNC mom, she certainly would have found our beloved superfans. Florence at Florence? The story would have written itself.