The UC Davis football team wrapped up its regular season this weekend with a 42-39 win over Sacramento State and a spot in the playoffs.

The win, the 10th this season, was enough to cement the Aggies’ place as the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS, playoffs. The Aggies have a bye in the first round and will host either Illinois State or Southeast Missouri State in a second round game to be played on Dec. 7 at UC Davis Health Stadium. Kickoff in that game is set for 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

See the full playoff bracket on the NCAA website.

The No. 5 seeding is the highest the Aggies have had in program history, in only their third Division I playoff appearance, and first since 2021. Their previous high seeding was in 2018 when they came in at No. 6, and the second-round game at home will be only the second home playoff game in program history, having hosted and beaten Northern Iowa in 2018.

“Today I'm just thankful and grateful, especially for these tremendous players,” Head Coach Tim Plough said. “They have put in hard work all season and I'm glad to see it pay off for them. They produced what I think is the best regular season we have had in the Division I era here at UC Davis and the players deserve all the credit for that.”

He called this year “the best regular season we have ever had.”

The Aggies are one of five Big Sky schools to have made the 24-team tournament, with No. 1 Montana State, No. 8 Idaho, No. 14 Montana and Northern Arizona joining UC Davis in the dance. The national championship game will be played Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas.

Read more about what makes this year’s football season historic.