Press Conference wrap

In a way, Tuesday's press conference was simply an acknowledgement on what everyone knew was coming. There had been little doubt that UC Davis was soaring through its certification, and that there were going to be no hold-ups in it actually becoming Division I. But as one member of the athletic department said to me yesterday, "It does feel different than yesterday."

It seemed as if every member of the UCD athletic department that wasn't on vacation or on the recruiting trail was at the Memorial Union for the press conference. That's actually a pretty rare occurance, but you could really sense the excitment in the room. I can't really blame anyone for that. I mean they did just achieve something massive. The gist of today's story is that UCD's administrators feel pretty good about the way they were able to make Division I fit their model of college athletics. There is a sense that, when it comes to athletics, UCD strives to be the proverbial school on a hill. That's both an admirable goal and a tough thing to actually manage. That's the gist of today's story, anyway.

We'll have two more this week, marking UCD making it this whole D-I thing official. Thursday we'll have a piece about how current Aggies feel about those who went through the transition. And Friday, we'll start looking to future to discuss the short- and long-term challenges facing the UCD athletic department.