The Last Time the Bulldogs Were Ranked........

..........and Boise State came to town, Fresno State was a huge -16 point favorite. The Bulldogs were 6-0 and ranked #8 in the AP poll. The Broncos, on the other hand, were 3-3, and in their first season in the Western Athletic Conference under first year head coach Dan Hawkins.

Boise State had shown flashes of brilliance under sophomore quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie winning by the average score of 42.67 to 13.33 in their three wins, but losing by the average score of 39.33 to 15.67 in their three losses.

Despite their record Boise State proved to be the toughest opponent in the WAC for Fresno State. The 35-30 loss is tough to relive, but the recap and boxscore can be read here.

That game was originally scheduled for Saturday October 20 and was moved to Friday October 19 for ESPN national broadcast. The sellout crowd was treated to a Kenny G rendition of the National Anthem.

This year the game is on a weekday and a national broadcast on ESPN, again, but will be the headline game on Thursday night with Mike Tirico and Kirk Herbstreit calling the game.

If you think Boise State's uniforms are hideous now, just check out these threads from 2001.

The 2001 win was the biggest in the Bronco's program. It was their first and only win over a ranked team, let alone, a top 10 team.

It was one of the biggest upset losses in Fresno State history ranking right up there with the 1989 loss at New Mexico and 1991 loss at Utah State. Unlike those two upset losses, Boise State actually was a very good team. The next three years after the 8-4 2001 season, the Broncos became an unstoppable force in the WAC.

The last conference loss for Boise State happened on November 3, 2001, over four years ago, at eventual WAC champ Louisiana Tech, 48-42. 31 straight conference wins, 3 straight conference titles, and 3 straight top 15 finishes brings the Broncos to the site of their biggest win to date, Bulldog Stadium. Another big win over the -7.5 favored Bulldogs would certainly guarantee a fourth straight WAC title and at the very least a top 25 ranking.

Four years ago the win by Boise State made the Broncos the most dominant team of WAC for the early part of this century. A Fresno State win could swing the dominance towards the Bulldogs for the first time since 1999, the last year they won a piece of a conference title.