After months of maneuvering, Fresno State locks in home football games with Power Five teams

Fresno State’s football future continued to take shape on Thursday with the Bulldogs finalizing home-and-home series with Washington State and BYU and 2-for-1 series with Kansas and Texas Tech, this following months of maneuvering to gain scheduling flexibility and land home games against opponents from Power Five conferences.

Fresno State will play at Kansas on Aug. 23, 2025 and Aug. 23, 2031 with the Jayhawks visiting Bulldog Stadium on Aug. 25, 2029.

BYU will play at Fresno State on Nov. 8, 2025 with the Bulldogs making the return trip to Provo, Utah, on Oct. 9, 2027.

The Bulldogs will play at Washington State on Sept. 19, 2026 with the Cougars coming to Fresno on Sept. 18, 2027.

And Texas Tech will play at Fresno State on Sept. 15, 2029 with the Bulldogs traveling to Lubbock on Sept. 7, 2030 and Sept. 11, 2032.

The 2-for-1s with Kansas and Texas Tech, sources said, come with $750,000 guarantees for the third game in the series.

Fresno State also has added a guarantee game at Washington on Sept. 4, 2027 that is worth $1.75 million and, like recently added games at Michigan in 2024 ($1.85 million) and at USC in 2028 ($1.75 million), will give the Bulldogs more financial flexibility in future scheduling.

With Michigan and UCLA ($1.2 million guarantee) on the schedule in 2024, Fresno State was able to buy a game with New Mexico State that season rather than play a home-and-home with the Aggies.

With no return game the Bulldogs cleared a spot in the future. It also, sources said, is paying New Mexico State $650,000 for the game and in 2024 is likely to clear around $2 million through football guarantees

But the critical piece is landing coveted home dates against Power Five opponents, a long shot for Fresno State with several factors working against it including the ease of travel for opposing teams and their fans.

“There has been so much investment by so many groups – our students, our football program, our administration and really the community – in terms of building Bulldog football to the standard we want it to be,” athletics director Terry Tumey said.

“But to take it to the next level, having quality opponents come to our Valley, is important. It truly does legitimize those efforts, and our community is worthy of playing high-caliber opponents. I think we deserve that. I think that’s something we yearn for.”

Risk for Fresno State

Landing home-and-home series with Power Five opponents has been the goal for Tumey since he was hired in June, 2018, but he admitted there is risk for the Bulldogs’ athletics department.

Fresno State, which is struggling to support its 21 sports programs, could easily play football games on the road and bring home rapidly escalating guarantees to pay a few bills; in 2015 it signed a deal to play a 2017 game at Washington for $1 million and now, just five years later, is getting $1.75 million.

But in pursuing home-and-home series and 2-for-1s with Power Five programs, it instead is banking on a flagging fan base to fill Bulldog Stadium and generate badly needed revenue.

The Bulldogs have not sold out a home football game since its home opener in 2014 against Nebraska and only once since then has it had an announced crowd of even 38,000, that a season-opener in 2017 against Incarnate Word (39,447) when the Bulldogs retired jersey No. 4 in honor of record-setting quarterback Derek Carr.

“We’re counting on the community,” Tumey said. “That’s important – that the community knows that we’re counting on them to support our team in order for us to continue this (scheduling model). If not, then we are relegated to taking money games. But we feel good about our community, so we’re able to do this and fight for this, because it is a fight.”

The Power Five teams that have played at Fresno State the past few seasons have been some of the best draws.

The Bulldogs’ largest announced attendance last season was 34,790 for the home opener against Minnesota.

A 2015 game against Utah also had an announced crowd of 33,675, the largest for six home dates.

Mountain West schedule set

The Mountain West on Thursday released its 2020 conference schedule and Fresno State will open conference play Sept. 26 against Air Force at Bulldog Stadium.

The 2020 schedule, subject to changes for television …

Sept. 5 – Idaho State

Sept. 12 – at Colorado

Sept. 19 – bye week

Sept. 26 – Air Force

Oct. 3 – at Colorado State

Oct. 10 – at Texas A&M

Oct. 17 – New Mexico State

Oct. 24 – at Nevada

Oct. 31 - Hawaii

Nov. 7 – at UNLV

Nov. 14 – at Utah State

Nov. 21 – San Diego State

Nov. 28 – San Jose State

FRESNO STATE FUTURE SCHEDULES

2021

Aug. 28 – UConn

Sept. 4 – at Oregon

Sept. 11 – Cal Poly

Sept. 18 – at UCLA

2022

Sept. 3 – Sacramento State

Sept. 10 – Oregon State

Sept. 17 – at USC

Oct. 1 – at UConn

2023

Sept. 2 – at Purdue

Sept. 16 – at Arizona State

2024

Aug. 31 – at Michigan

Sept. 14 – at UCLA

2025

Aug. 23 – at Kansas

Aug. 30 – Georgia Southern

Sept. 6 – at Oregon State

Nov. 8 – BYU

2026

Sept. 5 – at USC

Sept. 19 – at Washington State

2027

Sept. 4 – at Washington

Sept. 18 – Washington State

Oct. 9 – at BYU

2028

Sept. 9 – at USC

Sept. 23 – at Georgia Southern

2029

Aug. 25 – Kansas

Sept. 15 – Texas Tech

2030

Sept. 7 – at Texas Tech

2031

Aug. 23 – at Kansas

2032

Sept. 11 – at Texas Tech

This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 11:20 AM.