Fresno State, 4-0 and winner of 13 games in a row, lands spot in the Associated Press Top 25

Fresno State moved into the Top 25 on Sunday after a 53-10 victory over Kent State, coming in at No. 25.

The Bulldogs are 4-0 and have the second longest active winning streak in the nation at 13 games, though the quality of their competition is questionable. The three bowl subdivision (FBS) teams Fresno State has beaten — Purdue, Arizona State and Kent State — are a combined 3-9 this season and two of those three wins have come against FCS opponents. The Bulldogs’ other victory is over FCS Eastern Washington.

Fresno State is unranked in the AFCA Coaches Poll, coming in at No. 26 and the first among others receiving votes. The first College Football Playoff rankings will be released Oct. 31.

In the AP Top 25, the Bulldogs are the only Group of Five conference program ranked, and well ahead of Tulane from the American Athletic Conference at No. 33. Air Force is No. 36.

Georgia maintained its hold on No. 1 in the AP Top 25 and is followed by Michigan at No. 2, Texas at No. 3, Ohio State at No. 4 and Florida State at No. 5. Penn State, Washington, USC, Oregon and Utah round out the Top 10.

Missouri and Kansas at No. 23 and No. 24 also entered the poll for this first time this season.

Fresno State is making its initial appearance in the AP Top 25 in the fifth poll of the season. It was ranked in poll No. 4 in 2021 and poll No. 5 in 2013. The last time it hit the rankings earlier in a season was 2005, when ranked in the preseason.

The Bulldogs have a chance to run their winning streak to 14 games in their Mountain West Conference opener against Nevada on Saturday at Valley Children’s Stadium.

The Wolf Pack is 0-4 and has been outscored by a 41.3 to 17.0 margin.

The Bulldogs’ winning streak, at 13 games, is their longest since winning the final game of the 1960 season, all 10 games they played in 1961 and the first two that they played in 1962.

This story was originally published September 24, 2023 at 11:38 AM.