Bulldogs will have nine games on national TV, but road to title got tougher
Fresno State will play all of its home football games this fall on a Saturday for a second year in a row, but its road to a Mountain West title was made a little tougher on Tuesday when the conference released its national television package.
The Bulldogs, coming off a 10-4 season that included a West Division championship in the Mountain West, had a game at Boise State moved to Friday, Nov. 9. That game will be televised by ESPN2 with a 7:15 p.m. Pacific time kickoff.
That will put Fresno State on a short week against the Broncos and coming off a road game at UNLV on Nov. 3 that will kick off at 7:30 p.m., while the Broncos will play at home against Brigham Young on Nov. 3 and against the Bulldogs six days later.
Fresno State and Boise State played last season in the Mountain West championship game and are two of three teams in the conference along with San Diego State that have a legitimate chance to make a run at a New Year’s Six bowl game as the highest-ranked champion from a Group of Five conference.
The Bulldogs did not play a game on a short week last season, but were 0-2 playing on Friday in 2016 when 1-11.
They have seven games that will be televised on ESPN networks with game times and platform (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPN3 or ESPNU) to be determined in a 12-day window prior to the game. Fresno State had games at UNLV and against San Diego State at Bulldog Stadium selected by CBS Sports Network.
Additional broadcasts by AT&T SportsNet, Spectrum Sports (Hawai’i) and Stadium will be announced in the coming months.
The Bulldogs’ Sept. 1 season-opener against Idaho has been scheduled for 7 p.m., subject to change if the game is selected by a Mountain West television partner. Non-conference games at Minnesota and at UCLA will be determined by the Big Ten and the Pac-12.
Robert Kuwada: @rkuwada
Fresno State football schedule
Sept 1: Idaho, 7 p.m.
Sept. 8: at Minnesota, TBA
Sept. 15: at UCLA, TBA
Sept. 22: Bye
Sept. 29: Toledo, TBA, ESPN networks
Oct. 6: at Nevada, TBA, ESPN networks
Oct. 13: Wyoming, TBA, ESPN networks
Oct. 20: at New Mexico, TBA, ESPN networks
Oct. 27: Hawaii, TBA, ESPN networks
Nov. 3: at UNLV, 7:30 p.m., CBSSports Network
Nov. 9: at Boise State, 7:15 p.m., ESPN2
Nov. 17: San Diego State, 7:30 p.m., CBSSporrts Network
Nov. 24: San Jose State, TBA, ESPN networks
This story was originally published April 24, 2018 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Bulldogs will have nine games on national TV, but road to title got tougher."