With Pac-12 expansion & facilities tax looming, Fresno State kicks off crucial 2022 season

With rare exception, college football seasons are about wins and losses, championships and accolades.

For Fresno State in 2022, the stakes are significantly higher. With another round of conference realignment imminent and a tax measure to fund a university building boom on the November ballot, there’s a lot more on the line than some shiny trophy.

The Bulldogs kick things off Thursday night against Cal Poly. Provided everyone at Valley Children’s Stadium doesn’t keel over from heat exhaustion — what a debut for the new name that would be — it should be a walkover.

After that the schedule gets interesting. Those back-to-back games against Pac-12 opponents, Oregon State at home on Sept. 10 and USC at the Coliseum on Sept. 17, provide Fresno State with an opportunity to soar into the national rankings and whip up local excitement. Followed three weeks later by the Mountain West opener at Boise State.

In any normal season, football success would be its own reward. Both for the players, coaches and fans as well as the university’s own financial benefit from a surge in ticket sales and game revenue.

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For Fresno State in 2022, football success could serve as the catalyst for so much more.

As none other than Pat Hill predicted a quarter-century ago, college football is moving into an era of megaconferences. USC and UCLA’s imminent departures to the Big Ten may create a situation where the Pac-12 looks for new members — including the previously unthinkable notion of adding a Cal State school.

There aren’t many better ways for Fresno State to prove it belongs in the Pac-12 than to display that on a football field against Pac-12 opponents. Even a competitive loss to USC, before a national audience on Fox, wouldn’t be fatal in that regard.

John Canzano, an old Bee colleague who covers the Pac-12 as thoroughly as anyone, has Fresno State ranked fifth among expansion candidates. San Diego State tops the list, squarely due to market size and location, followed by SMU, UNLV and Boise State.

The Bulldogs knocking off two Pac-12 teams (USC in particular) doesn’t automatically guarantee Fresno State moves up in the pecking order. There are many more factors at play. But it can’t hurt.

Why would a move to the Pac-12 benefit Fresno State? Besides the obvious boost in prestige, there’s a not-so-little-matter of money. The Pac-12 is projected to distribute $34.4 million to each of its members this year. Fresno State will get about $4 million from the Mountain West.

Measure E: final lifeline for stadium?

Conference realignment isn’t the only major off-the-field topic looming over the 2022 season. Of equal significance is the Cal State University, Fresno Transportation & Use Tax, about to be better known as Measure E.

If a majority of Fresno County voters pencil-in “yes” next to the developer-backed initiative on their ballots, approximately $36 million per year would be generated for facilities and program improvements. Even though no more than one-third of that money can be spent on athletics, the sunken concrete bowl on Barstow Avenue remains an obvious priority.

After so many scrapped plans and fundraising failures, Measure E might be Valley Children’s Stadium’s final lifeline.

It might seem silly to correlate a football team’s success with success at the ballot box. In fact, it’s quite sensible.

In seasons when the Bulldogs are racking up wins and basking in national acclaim (think 2001, 2005 and 2013 even though those years didn’t end well), more and more fans and alumni jump on the bandwagon. Many of whom also happen to be Fresno County voters.

Fresno State will have played nine games when election day arrives in November. If the Bulldogs are 9-0 or 8-1 at that point, a 20-year, one-fifth-cent sales tax to build facilities, bolster programs and renovate the stadium sounds a lot more palatable than if they’re 4-5.

That’s just human nature, especially on a ballot with three tax initiatives.

As expected, Fresno State coaches and players are having none of this conversation. Jeff Tedford, back for his second stint as head coach looking like he never left, is a master at keeping the team’s focus squarely on the field. A mindset adopted by star quarterback Jake Haener, who gave a button-up answer when asked about Pac-12 expansion and the facilities tax.

“I’m just really focused on winning,” Haener said. “We work really hard and prepare really hard so that (on game days) we take care of business. The expansion stuff is great for Fresno State and schools that are getting attention, but we’re worried about winning.”

Winning is where it all starts, certainly. But that’s the case every fall. In 2022, the Bulldogs have more on the line than a conference championship. They’re playing for a greater financial future.