Fresno State will be on the road a lot in quest for a Pac-12 title. See the schedule
Fresno State will have a challenging road to the Pac-12 championship game in its first year in the rebuilding conference, which will start play this fall.
Fresno State will play four of its seven conference games on the road this season, all against teams that played in a bowl game in 2025.
There are six teams in the eight-team league that played in a bowl game last season including the Bulldogs, who beat Miami Ohio in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl to cap a 9-4 season. Of the other five teams, Fresno State will play four on the road, according to a schedule that was released on Wednesday by the conference.
The Bulldogs will play at Washington State (Famous Idaho Potato Bowl), at San Diego State (New Mexico Bowl), at Utah State (Famous Idaho Potato Bowl) and at Texas State (Armed Forces Bowl) in a seven-game conference schedule.
They also play four conference games on the road and only three at home, while Boise State, Oregon State, San Diego State and Texas State get to play four conference games at home.
San Diego State plays only one bowl team on the road, and Boise State plays two.
Fresno State, on the plus side, has the most wins and highest winning percentage on the road or in neutral site games than any of the teams in the rebuilt Pac-12 over the past five seasons. Comparing records over the three conferences the Pac-12 teams are coming from is difficult, but the Bulldogs are 21-15 (.583) on the road or in neutral site games including 13-8 (.619) against Mountain West opponents.
Coach Matt Entz also went 5-2 on the road or in neutral site games in his first season at Fresno State and when at North Dakota State was 23-8 (.742) playing away from the Fargodome.
The Bulldogs do get Boise State at Valley Children’s Stadium, adding a marquee rivalry matchup to a home schedule that includes conference games against Oregon State and Colorado State and non-conference games against Sacramento State and Rice.
Fresno State will open the season at USC on Sept. 5.
The Pac-12 teams will play seven conference games with what it is calling a ‘flex’ game in the final week of the regular season that will not count in the league standings.
It allows Pac-12 teams to play a 12th game without scrambling to add a non-conference opponent to the schedule when few have openings at this point — the Bulldogs’ game at USC, for instance, has been scheduled since 2016 and in 2019 was pushed back one season to be played this year. It also will provide some scheduling flexibility, and the Pac-12 retains the right to adjust matchups based on the best interests of the league including College Football Playoff considerations that may or may not be alive at that point in the season.
The Bulldogs will play that flex game at home, a projected matchup against San Diego State. The other matchups are Boise State at Utah State, Texas State at Colorado State and Oregon State at Washington State. The schedule for the final week of the regular season will be confirmed at least six days prior to the games.
The Pac-12 championship game will be played on Dec. 4 on the home field of the team with the highest seed.
Kickoff times and dates are expected to be announced this summer with the conference’s television partners CBS, the CW and USA Sports. Fresno State has two games that could be moved to a Friday, an Oct. 3 game at Washington State and an Oct. 31 game against Oregon State. FRESNO STATE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 5 - at USC
Sept. 12 - Sacramento State
Sept. 19 - at San Jose State
Sept. 26 - Rice
Oct. 3 - at Washington State
Oct. 10 - Boise State
Oct. 17 - at San Diego State
Oct. 24 - Bye
Oct. 31 - Oregon State
Nov. 7 - at Utah State
Nov. 14 - at Texas State
Nov. 21 - Colorado State
Nov. 28 - FLEX, projected to be San Diego State
Dec. 4 - Pac-12 championship game