Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
A mid-year five game win streak kept Fresno State alive in 2009 after a loaded early-season schedule, facing Wisconsin, Boise State, and Big East champ Cincinnati in consecutive weeks. They finished the season 8-4 before Wyoming won the New Mexico Bowl in double overtime, in one of the most compelling bowls of the season.
For 2010, the Bulldogs will have to replace star running back Ryan Matthews, who passed up his senior season and went 12th in the NFL Draft. Otherwise, Fresno brings back 8 starters on each side of the ball and can look to start improving on last year right away. As usual, it won’t be an easy road, with three BCS teams and of course Boise State on the slate.
Schedule
9/4/2010 Cincinnati
9/18/2010 at Utah State
9/25/2010 at Mississippi
10/2/2010 Cal Poly
10/9/2010 Hawaii
10/16/2010 New Mexico State
10/23/2010 at San Jose State
11/6/2010 at Louisiana Tech
11/13/2010 Nevada
11/19/2010 at Boise State
11/27/2010 Idaho
12/3/2010 Illinois
The schedule sets up nicely for the Bulldogs, with seven home games, including a national TV opener with Cincinnati coming to town. Their conference standing will probably be worked out in six days, with Nevada and Boise State back to back. If those games don’t go well, then the next game with Idaho could be the WAC third-place game.
Coaching
Pat Hill has been in charge at Fresno State since 1997, and he now sits as the fourth most (uninterrupted) tenured coach in college football, well ahead of anyone else on the west coast. He’s had only two losing seasons- 1998 and 2006 (where he still went 4-4 in the WAC). Barring a meltdown, it seems the job is his for a long as he wants it.
Rankings
Both the WAC media and coaches polls agree, having Fresno State third in the league. No votes in the national poll, although if they win their first three that might change.
Outlook
Despite the loss of Matthews, Fresno State should still be in that top 3 of the WAC again this year. Leaping Nevada or Boise would surprise me, but they should be able to fend off the rest of the league. I think another 8 win regular season is on tap, and 9 or 10 could be within reach depending on how they start against the big schools.
Fresno State Connections
BarkBoard – Scout message board
Fresno Bee – Local coverage of the Bulldogs
One More Thing: The Green V on the back of the helmets represents the San Joaquin Valley, which Pat Hill says the team represents, beyond just the city of Fresno.