November 2004

Briefly speaking: Tackling new competition

Marc Manfredda

UC Davis football center Marc Manfredda is 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighs more than 300 pounds and is not about to back down from a challenge.

The senior from Eureka, Calif., and other student athletes are meeting tougher competition head-on as UC Davis begins the second year of its reclassification to Division I status in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

"We have to do more preparation now knowing that the competition is tougher," said Manfredda, who is majoring in community and regional development.

A new playing field

Each year during the four-year transition period, UC Davis is required to become more like a Division I institution. Beginning this year, the Aggies are required to play mostly Division I competition.

Aggie offensive lineman Marc Manfredda, No. 58, blocks an opposing player on the football field. (Wayne Tilcock/Davis Enterprise)

The football squad, for example, usually played three or four Division I opponents each season. This season, the Aggies' schedule includes nine teams either already at the Division I level or in the process of reclassifying to it.

"It's a lot of fun coming into the games as the underdog," Manfredda said. "The biggest challenge with the increase in competition is keeping your academics, your sport and your social life in the order they need to be."

Stepping up in other sports

For UC Davis teams across the board, the opponents are more recognizable to the casual fan and the interest level is rising. The men's basketball team, for example, will face Stanford, Saint Joseph's, Nevada, Pacific and Murray State this season -- all teams that have previously advanced to March Madness and the NCAA Division I tournament.

Danielle Green of Bakersfield and other student athletes will be running into tough competition this year. (Wayne Tilcock/Davis Enterprise)

Women's basketball will face UC Santa Barbara, which made it to the "Sweet Sixteen" last season, and the women's volleyball team is facing nine opponents that were in postseason play last year. The baseball squad will host defending national champion Cal State Fullerton in a three-game series this spring. And, showing UC Davis is ready for the challenges ahead, the men's soccer team tied No. 18 Stanford in mid-October.

Next fall, UC Davis will visit Stanford for a football matchup sure to bring more national attention to the university.

The schedules promise only to get tougher as UC Davis continues to reclassify to Division I status. And for football -- a program that has just clinched its 35th consecutive winning season -- those challenges will be met.

"Bringing in bigger-name schools increases the level of play," said Manfredda.

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