Category Archives: Women’s Sports
Upheaval Plagues College Sports at Year’s End
Earlier last month, a U.S. House bill, the SCORE Act, was pulled for further work. Endorsed by the NCAA’s College Sports Commission, the goal of the bill was to create and enforce a set of uniform, federal rules to regulate name, image, and likeness (NIL), revenue sharing and add controls to the transfer portal. The opponents to the bill argued that the legislation came at the expense of athletes and was a gift to the NCAA and the Power conferences. The bill would have permitted the NCAA to cap NIL deals, set a limit on transfers, establish fair-market-value on NIL deals, and limit conflicts with existing university sponsorship deals. Finally, the bill stopped athletes from becoming employees and shielded the NCAA and the Commission from antitrust and state court lawsuits. The argument by the legislative opposition contended that this legislation was not ready for ‘prime time.’ Continue reading Upheaval Plagues College Sports at Year’s End
LetsGoDU’s Top 10 Articles of 2025
Our Top 10 articles over the past year:
10. Denver Rides Matt Davis Heroics to 6th Frozen Four in 9 YearsÂ
Denver Hockey is always a top story. Goalie Matty Davis and head coach David Carle led the Pioneers to the Frozen Four in St. Louis.
9. Breaking – Denver to Join the West Coast Conference
We’ve written about the need to join the WCC for years. When we least expected it, DU received and accepted an offer to join the WCC.
8. University of Denver Titan, Daniel L. Ritchie, Dies at Age 93
‘Titan’ says it all. Dan Ritchie will always be remembered as a true Pioneer as he returned Denver athletics to the Division I ranks and witnessed numerous national championships.
7. Gondola Project Set to Address Campus Navigation Issues
Our readers appreciate satire, especially when it comes to North Dakota or Colorado College. However, this April Fool’s article was Reid Hardy’s most-read piece in 2025.
6. Recapping DU’s Incredibly Terrible Mascot and Identity Decisions since 1998
Originally written in 2018, readers still return to this piece written by Puck Swami. The article reminds us that Denver alumni, fans, and friends are passionate about tradition and identity.
5. DU Hockey Alumnus Faces Cancer Battle
Some things are bigger than sports. The DU community was asked to support a fallen Pioneer. Rhett Rakhshani’s wife, Sharlene (Shar), 31, who was diagnosed with stage four cancer. A GoFundMe was established to support Shar and their three children. Shar sadly passed a little over a year (in January 2024) after that original December 2022 article was posted, with that article receiving more attention after her sad passing.
4. Vote of ‘No Confidence”, failed or otherwise, damages both the Faculty and Administration
At the end of last academic year, Chancellor Haefner was given a vote of ‘No Confidence’ by the faculty – a big mistake in our opinion. We contend that open discussion and engagement would have been much more fruitful and productive.
3. Local Gathering Place, Brueggers Bagels, Abruptly Closes
Readers want to learn about changes around the DU campus. The closing of Bruegger’s Bagels and Pete’s Cafe were two of the numerous retail transformations around the DU campus this past year.
2. Jeff Wulbrun Out: How it all Unraveled
Denver’s former head men’s basketball coach was suspended ‘in-season’ in a stunning turn of events. People had plenty of opinions and shared them on LetsGoDU.
The top read for the past year was written by LetsGoDU editor, Nick Tremaroli. Nick did an in-depth statistical analysis of all Division I men’s hockey programs over the history of the sport and developed a scoring system and ranking to numerically determine the top programs of the past 25 years and all time. The article encouraged vigorous debate inside and outside of the LetsGoDU community. Of course, to us, DU’s finish is not a surprise, but a school to the south of Denver did much better than expected.
As always, thanks for reading LetsGoDU and sharing your many thoughts with us. We, like you, are looking forward to another great year in 2026 that will see DU make its long-awaited transition to the WCC.
Merry Christmas from LetsGoDU
Hoping you have a great Christmas and Holiday, no matter where you are.
–LetsgoDU–
University of Utah Athletics Signs Private Equity Deal with Otro Capital
Just when we thought university athletics were getting too professionalized, they go a step further. With the blessing of the NCAA, the University of Utah is creating Utah Brands & Entertainment, a company to oversee its major revenue sources. Otro Capital (a private equity firm) would be the minority owner of for-profit Utah Brands, which will manage operations such as ticket sales, media, stadium events, concessions, and trademark and licensing matters. All this while many universities, especially those in the Power Four conferences, are sharing $20+ million of current department revenue with their student-athletes on top of declining media revenue and soaring operating costs. Continue reading University of Utah Athletics Signs Private Equity Deal with Otro Capital
DU Men’s Soccer to Host UC Irvine Thursday in NCAA First Round
DU Men’s Soccer (11-7-2, 4-1-1) received word Monday morning that they will face the UC Irvine Anteaters at Pioneer Field on Thursday at 3:00 pm MT. The assignment follows a 4-2 victory Saturday over UMKC in the Summit League Tournament championship. Tickets for the matchup are now on sale, but if you can’t attend, the match will be streamed on ESPN+. Continue reading DU Men’s Soccer to Host UC Irvine Thursday in NCAA First Round
After the Smoke Clears – Seven Observations about DU and the WCC
Here are 7 random thoughts, observations and speculations following last Friday’s announcement that Denver is moving to the West Coast conference (WCC) for the 2026-27 season. Continue reading After the Smoke Clears – Seven Observations about DU and the WCC
The Decision: Nimble DU Navigates Rapid West Coast Membership Offer
DU has longed for West Coast Conference membership since rejoining Division I athletics in 1998, according to Athletic Director Josh Berlo during the joint WCC/DU virtual press conference announcing DU’s acceptance of the conference’s membership offer. The deal was finalized in lightning speed as it took less than two weeks to seal final acceptance.
WCC commissioner Stu Jackson cited informal social contact, especially over the past year, as the start of discussions. Then, after a series of meetings across both organizations, after less than two weeks of in-depth discussions, the WCC extended an offer to the Pioneers. DU’s administration, athletic department, and Board of Trustees showed rare combined agility, speed, and alignment in accepting the offer to join the West Coast Conference. DU is the conference’s 11th member, and Jackson confirmed that the search will continue for a 12th, noting that a dozen members matches the conference’s ideal membership vision. Continue reading The Decision: Nimble DU Navigates Rapid West Coast Membership Offer
Breaking: Denver to Join West Coast Conference
Finally!
We have waited years for this to happen. Friday, a tweet by ESPN’s Pete Thamel confirmed it – DU is moving from the Summit League to the West Coast Conference on July 1, 2026. The Denver Post followed the tweet with an article citing the tweet and the move of nine DU sports to the West Coast Conference (WCC). Denver will be joining a conference of equals – largely private schools with similar size, funding and academic profile in alignment with the University. The move will increase DU’s academic profile and give the University greater visibility to the valuable California student market while basketball most certainly will receive a boost in national interest.
Continue reading Breaking: Denver to Join West Coast Conference
Denver Sweeps Summit League Home Openers
DU women’s volleyball (10-3, 2-0) swept two matches to open Summit League conference play. Thursday, the team played Oral Roberts in Tulsa and carved out a 3-0 sweep behind outside hitter Ava Reynolds. On Saturday, DU returned home against UMKC. DU played a dominant first set, came from behind in the second, lost the third, and dominated the Roos in the fourth set. Jamia Johnson led DU with 17 kills to cap the opening sweep. Continue reading Denver Sweeps Summit League Home Openers