This morning when the poll results were released by the WAC, the numbers said Fresno State received 20 first place votes in the conference's preseason football media poll, five short of defending champ Boise State.
I was surprised. Shocked. Stunned.
Now it makes a little bit more sense. The numbers were wrong. Fresno State was still picked by the coaches and media to finish third in their respective polls, with LaTech and Fresno State sharing the third place bone in the coaches' poll. But Fresno State did not receive any first place votes, which fits more suitably into the expectations others have expressed.
Most of the preseason magazines, if I'm not mistaken, have Fresno State placing fourth or fifth, so first place votes were a surprise. Even third place votes of confidence are a tad bit suprising, but put into context fit the mold. They're tied with LaTech in the coaches' poll and the media poll had LaTech five votes behind Fresno's dogs.
Fresno State enters the season after a 7-6 year and will play a first-year starting quarterback. The Bulldogs also start the season with what on paper appears to be a very tough slate: home vs. UC Davis; at Wisconsin; home vs Boise State; at Cincinnati; at Hawaii.
Considering those two issues alone, if the Bulldogs rebound from what could be a rough start to meet these third place expectations, perhaps fans should be happy with that and not complain about the lack of a WAC title.
Yeah, the fans should be happy with the Bulldogs failing to win the WAC for the the 100th time under Pat Hill, while he gets paid more in one year for failing, than most people will earn in their entire lives. That sounds totally rational.