UC Davis Aggies

The UC Davis Aggies (or Ags) compete in NCAA Division I sports in the Big West Conference. For football, the Aggies compete in Division I FCS (formerly known as Division I-AA), and are members of 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 gymnastics and lacrosse, the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association in rowing, and an associate member of the Pacific-12 Conference in wrestling.

The Aggies achievements in Division 2 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 re-classify to Division I.

Aggie Stadium is the home of the UC Davis football and lacrosse teams.

The UC Davis Women's rugby was ranked 4th in the nation in 2007.

On April 20, 2010, the school announced that effective July 1, four sports will be eliminated due to the national economic downturn. The sports are: Women’s rowing, wrestling, men’s swimming and diving, and men’s indoor track and field.

Colors, Mascot, 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 is often referred to as "Yale Blue" (e.g., see and ), although UCD's official blue, usually called "Aggie Blue", Pantone 295 differs from Yale Blue (approximately Pantone 289 ).

The official school mascot is the mustang. 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, but despite student support this was turned down after opposition from alumni. Many people will call the mustang mascot of UC Davis an Aggie, but this is not its proper name; the mustang mascot is named Gunrock. 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.

UC Davis students gather at sporting events to rally as the Aggie Pack, the largest student-run school spirit organization in the United States. The Aggie Pack cheers on the sports team to the music of the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh! and its alumni band.

Rivalries
The highlight of the recent 4-year transition to Division I occurred on September 17, 2005, when the Aggies defeated the heavily favored Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium by a score of 20–17 on a TD pass with 8 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. The win in these two major sports and the addition of the Aggies beating the Cardinal in soccer earlier in 2005 as well as a win in wrestling and two wins in baseball pulled the Aggies' win loss record with Stanford to 5–1 for men's sports the 05-06 year.

The Aggie football team plays Sacramento State in the annual Causeway Classic for the Causeway Carriage. The team also plays Cal Poly in the annual Battle for the Golden Horseshoe.

Division 2 success: 1990-2003
The Aggies finished first in NCAA Division II six times in 2003 and won the NACDA Director's Cup 4 years in a row from 1999 to 2003. In 1998, the UC Davis men's basketball team won the NCAA Division II national championship despite being one of the few non-scholarship institutions in Division II at that time. They have also won NCAA Division II championships in Softball (2003), Men's Tennis (1992), and Women's Tennis (1990, 1993).

Wrestling
UC Davis also has a note-worthy wrestling program, which competes in the Pac-10 at the Division I level. In 2007, UC Davis wrestler Derek Moore gained All-American status, as well as won the NCAA Division I Championships for his weight class. In addition, he received the "Most Outstanding Wrestler" award of the NCAA tournament. In so doing, Derek Moore became the first UC Davis student-athlete to become a NCAA champion at the Division I level. That same year, UC Davis finished within the top 25 for Division I collegiate wrestling programs in the country.