Fresno State Bulldogs vault into Top 25 after six straight wins

For the first time since 2013, the Fresno State Bulldogs are ranked in the top 25 in the Associated Press and Coaches polls.

The Bulldogs are No. 20 by the AP and No. 23 by the Coaches, moving up in both polls after a rough weekend for ranked teams.

The Bulldogs, 7-1, 4-0 in the Mountain West Conference, jumped into the top 25 Sunday morning, a day after winning their sixth straight game in a 50-20 Homecoming rout of Hawaii.

No. 6 Texas, No. 9 Florida, No. 15 Washington, No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 18 Iowa, No. 19 Oregon, No. 20 Wisconsin No. 21 South Florida, No. 22 North Carolina State, No. 24 Stanford and No. 25 Appalachian State all lost last week.

Last week, Fresno State was No. 29 with 35 points in the AP poll, behind Texas Tech and Mountain West rivals Utah State and San Diego State. It was No. 31 in the Coaches poll.

Don’t expect the Bulldogs to be overly impressed.

“That’s for other people to figure out,” said coach Jeff Tedford, after the Bulldogs rolled up a season-high 562 yards against the Rainbow Warriors and held a 19th opponent in a row to less than 30 points.

“It really matters at the end of the year. There is a lot of football to be played. If we play well and people recognize it, maybe someday that will happen, but that’s not a goal that we have right now. Our goal is to try to work hard each week and get better. We want to take advantage of every opportunity that we have from week to week.”

The Bulldogs play at UNLV on Saturday, matching up against a team that has lost five games a row, allowing 40 or more points in four of those games and 50 or more in three of them.

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday.

Three Group of Five conference programs are ranked ahead of the Bulldogs in both polls - Central Florida is No. 9 in the AP and Coaches Poll, Houston is No. 17 in both polls and Utah State from the Mountain West is No. 18 in the AP poll and No. 20 in the coaches.

Fresno State last was ranked in both polls in the same week in 2013 after winning a Mountain West championship with a 24-17 victory over Utah State.

The Bulldogs were 11-1 at that point, ranked No. 20 by the AP and No. 21 by the Coaches. They fell out of the final rankings after a 45-20 loss to USC in the Las Vegas Bowl, coming in at No. 26 in both polls.

They were ranked in the AP Top 25 in Week 14 last season after finishing the regular season 9-3, one season after going 1-11. The Bulldogs just missed the Top 25 in the Coaches Poll, coming in at No. 26.

This story was originally published October 28, 2018 at 12:01 PM.