This is no huge breaking news deal, but it was interesting, especially since he brought up Fresno State...

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy (he of "I'm a man! I'm 40!" lore) said in a Tulsa World interview published Thursday that he could see both sides of the argument over whether the final ballots of the USA Today coaches' poll should be made public.

Here's how it went down.
"Q: Starting with the 2010 season, the final regular-season ballots in the USA Today coaches' poll will not be released to the public. How do you feel about coaches not being obligated to release their ballots?

The New York Times has been ranking college football teams for weeks now, and slugged a couple of the WAC's teams as some of the nation's worst.

Fresno State is ranked No.62 in the list and the writer found coach Pat Hill's position on the hot seat surprising.

"It may be hard to believe - especially when considering how consistently good Fresno has been - but Hill finds himself on somewhat of a hot seat in 2009; I don't think he'll lose his job, barring a sub-.500 finish, but it is surprising to me that a coach who has meant so much to the program could find his job in jeopardy."

Other WAC teams already ranked: LaTech (67), Hawaii (71), San Jose State (90), Utah St. (115), New Mexico State (118), Idaho (119).

A little good news for foes of the BCS system, which includes some Fresno State football fans.

According to the AP: The Senate plans to hold a hearing next week to look into antitrust issues regarding the Bowl Championship Series. It's the second time this year that Congress is shining a light on the polarizing system the Football Bowl Subdivision uses to crown a national champion.

Legislation has been introduced that would prevent the N.C.A.A. from calling a game a national championship unless it is the outcome of a playoff.

This comes after some bad news for those hoping the BCS system would soon give way to a playoff. The BCS presidents rejected an 8-team playoff proposal from the Mountain West Conference last week, which led to Air Force coach Troy Calhoun's comparing the current system to that of the former Soviet Union. More details here and here.

The times for Fresno State's football games at Wisconsin and Illinois this fall season are now set.

The Bulldogs will play Wisconsin at 9 a.m. on Sept. 12 inside Camp Randall Stadium. The game will be televised on either ESPN or ESPN2.

The Big Ten Network will televise Fresno State's Dec. 5 matchup at Illinois at 9:30 a.m.

The Bulldogs are 1-2 against Wisconsin. They lost last season's home opener to Wisconsin 13-10 inside Bulldog Stadium and lost 23-21 to the Badgers in a 2002 road game. Fresno State won the first matchup between the schools, a 32-20 road win, in 2001.

The Bulldogs have never played Illinois.

After weeks of spring football, Fresno State's starting quarterback position is still unsettled. Some think the areas where the different quarterbacks might have the edge right now are as follows:

Long ball: Carr

Managing the offense: Colburn

Running the option: Feathers

What do you think? Who has the edge where and who do you think will start against UC Davis on Sept. 5? Will that same qb start the second game?

Fresno State coach Pat Hill didn't designate a starter Saturday after the Bulldogs' annual Spring Game, but one thing stood out.

Ryan Colburn can hurt this Fresno State defense -- and possibly other defenses -- with his arm and his legs, which could help him solidify the starting position this fall.

While Ebahn Feathers was electric running the ball (12 rushes for 126 yards and two touchdowns) and Derek Carr was impressive through the air (completing 11 of 13 passes for three scores and 144 yards), Colburn made plays running and passing. He rushed nine times for 59 yards and a 15-yard score and was 5-of-11 passing for 109 yards and one touchdown. He could have had one more completion with at least 40 more yards if Marlon Moore had not dropped a nicely lobbed deep ball, but Colburn criticized himself for leaving too many completable passes on the field.

Football coach Pat Hill will do something Saturday that he said he hasn't done since his first year at Fresno State: allow his quarterbacks to get hit in a scrimmage.

No quarterback on the roster has started a college game so Hill wants to see how they react when a lineman breathing down their neck actually has the green light to sock them.

"There are so many young offensive linemen [the quarterbacks] are going to have to scramble a little bit and that's good because you see what they do under pressure," Hill said.

Saturday's scrimmage at noon inside Bulldog Stadium will be one of the first live tests for many young linemen, but the leader of the group, senior center Joe Bernardi, said they will rise to the occasion in face of pressure and prepare for the scrimmage as if it's a game.

Like the sun, which seemed to fight a losing battle against the clouds for much of Wednesday, it seemed Fresno State's offense would once again be pummeled by its defense.

The more experienced defense has been much better throughout spring ball, and did very well against the offense once again during Wednesday's practice. But as practice went on, the offense got a few good licks in.

In halfline drills defensive end Chris Carter, who's been more and more chatty on the field this spring, picked up a sack. Later, safety Phil Thomas almost picked off a Derek Carr pass in the flats.

Remember Cardell Turner, the Central Section champion hurdler from Edison who walked onto the Fresno State football team? (If not, I posted a story I wrote about him at the end of this blog).

Well, he left Fresno State after one season to play at Reedley and has now signed to play WR at Jackson State ...

Fans attending Fresno State football's first spring scrimmage today at 2:30 p.m. on the practice field shouldn't expect greatness.

In fact, they should expect to see players simply trying to get their timing and execution down.

The position to watch, of course, will be quarterback as coach Pat Hill and his staff assess the position's growth so far. Ryan Colburn, Derek Carr and Ebahn Feathers will all receive snaps with the first team today.

Barring injury, it would be completely jawdropping for today's scrimmage to decide who will start at any position come fall. But it will give a good indication as to who has been in the film room and dutifully studying their playbook.

See you out there.