Welcome to the 2025 college football preseason
Offseason hibernation is over. The days are getting longer, but time is getting shorter until Ireland gets introduced to Farmaggedon. Now is the time to start learning about teams for the 2025 season, whether it’s the new QB for the reigning National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes or who has the best chance to win Conference-USA. This series will cover my top 100 preseason college football rankings for 2025 as we count down 100 days until Week 0. We will dive into a new team each day as we draw closer to the college football season.
Countdown to Kickoff: Day 85
Coming in at No. 85 in our 2025 preseason rankings: Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State is coached by Matt Entz, who is in his 1st year with the program. The Bulldogs finished last year with a record of 6-7 and 4th in the Mountain West.
Fresno State returns 40% of production from the 2024 team: 36% on the Offense and 44% on the Defense. According to 247Sports, the Bulldogs finished the 2025 cycle with 22 recruits, landing the 104th overall ranked class, which ranked 7th in the MAC. Along with their high school recruiting, Fresno State has brought in 21 players through the transfer portal and has a portal ranking of 102. 31% of the 2025 roster will be made up of new additions.
Offensive Coordinator Josh Davis, heading into his 1st year with the program, will lead the offense that put up 24.4 points per game last season (85th nationally). The Bulldogs finished 2024 with 63.5 plays per game (120th) and a pace of 25.4 seconds per play (46). The offense averaged 28.2 runs (127th) for 93.5 per game (126th), along with 33.1 pass attempts (41st) for 232.8 yards per game (54th). The pass-heavy offense had a 42%-57% run-pass play call split. The overall offensive success rate was 39%.
Up front, Fresno State brings back 81% of its offensive line production from last year, including 3 clear-cut starters for 2025. With the departure of Mikey Keene to Michigan, transfers E.J. Warner and Carson Conklin will compete for leadership of the offense. The starting quarterback will be tasked with improving the 41% pass success rate from 2024. In 2024, Keene finished with 2892 passing yards, an 18-11 touchdown-interception ratio, and averaged 16.6 fantasy points per game. In 75% of his starts, he scored at least 11.05 fantasy points, with 219 passing yards and one touchdown per game. He finished 2024 with a season high of 27.85 and a low of 5 fantasy points.
The Bulldogs return 29% of the receiving production in 2025, with 3 of the top receivers gone. In 2024, leading receiver Mac Dalena totaled 1065 yards, 8 touchdowns, 64 receptions, and averaged 17.14 fantasy points per game. In 75% of his starts, he scored at least 10.1 fantasy points, with a season high of 38.3 and a low of 7.8 fantasy points. His best game was against FCS Sacramento State, where he caught 7 passes for 235 yards and 1 touchdown and added an 18-yard rush.
The Bulldogs return 82% of the rushing production in 2025, with Elijah Gilliam and Bryson Donelson both returning. Gilliam finished 2024 with 121 carries for 466 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 11.3 fantasy points per game. Donelson finished with 77 carries for 462 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 8.4 fantasy points per game.
Fresno State enters 2025 with the 95th-ranked strength of schedule. The Bulldogs will play in front of their home fans 6 times, back-to-back home in Weeks 12 and 13.
Our model predicts a 6-6 record for the Bulldogs. Our model gives the team a 75+% win expectancy in 4 games, a 50-75% win expectancy in 3 games, a 25-49% win expectancy in 3 games, and a <25% win expectancy in 2 games.
According to their conference championship odds of +800 at DraftKings, the Bulldogs are predicted to finish 4th in the Mountain West.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to return tomorrow as we continue the countdown with Team 84.
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Returning Production for all teams can be found at Punt and Rally
Stats for all players can be found at College Football Team Stats | TeamRankings.com
