Fresno State adds FCS opponents to future schedules – they come with a bonus, and a test

Fresno State has swapped one game and added three others against FCS opponents, games that might not stir much interest among the football fan base but do come with their pluses for a program reworking its scheduling plan and has recently added series against Power Five conference opponents.

The Bulldogs in 2022 will play a non-conference home game against Cal Poly rather than Sacramento State, moving that date against the Hornets back to 2024 and adding another against the rising FCS program in 2026.

Fresno State added a 2027 game against Dixie State, the Utah school that is moving up to Division I and recently secured games at Utah, at BYU and at Colorado State.

The critical piece for Fresno State – it will be paying out a guarantee of only $350,000 for each of those four games, according to sources.

In 2024, the Bulldogs will gross more than $2 million in game guarantee revenue for the athletics department with $1.85 million and $1.2 million coming in from games at Michigan and at UCLA and $650,000 and $350,000 going out for games against New Mexico State and Cal Poly.

And, in 2022, it will get its first test of athletics director Terry Tumey’s scheduling plan to boost attendance through scheduling Power Five opponents in home-and-home series.

The Bulldogs that season will start a home-and-home series against Oregon State that was scheduled during the tenure of former athletics director Jim Bartko. The Bulldogs in 2022 also have games at USC and at UConn to start a home-and-home series and the game against Cal Poly.

Fresno State under Tumey has since added a home-and-home series with Washington State from the Pac-12 and 2-for-1 series with Kansas and Texas Tech from the Big 12 that come with a guarantee for the third game that will be played on the road. It also has added a home-and-home series with BYU.

While attendance at Bulldog Stadium has slipped, Power Five opponents still at least pique some curiosity. Fresno State last season had its largest attendance (34,790) for a game against Minnesota.

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

The Bulldogs’ most recent sellout was the home opener in 2014 against Nebraska.

FRESNO STATE FUTURE SCHEDULES

2021

Aug. 28 – UConn

Sept. 4 – at Oregon

Sept. 11 – Cal Poly

Sept. 18 – at UCLA

2022

Sept. 3 – Cal Poly

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. 7 – Sacramento State

Sept. 14 – at UCLA

Oct. 5 - New Mexico State

2025

Aug. 23 – at Kansas

Aug. 30 – Georgia Southern

Sept. 6 – at Oregon State

Nov. 8 – BYU

2026

Sept. 5 – at USC

Sept. 12 – Sacramento State

Sept. 19 – at Washington State

2027

Aug. 28 – Dixie State

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