Fresno State is getting a big payday for its game at Michigan. Here’s where it ranks

When Fresno State opens its football season at Michigan on Aug. 31, it will receive a game guarantee of $1.85 million — which is one of the largest anywhere in the nation this season and part of a significant turnaround for the Bulldogs athletics department.

Just a few years ago, Fresno State did not have much on its future football schedules but a lot of holes. The non-conference games with guarantees it did have were not all that lucrative. But this season the Bulldogs will net some much-needed revenue for the athletics department.

In addition to the $1.85 million Fresno State will receive from Michigan, it received an additional $150,000 to move its game at UCLA to Nov. 30 from Sept. 14. Fresno State will bank $1.35 million for that trip to the Rose Bowl, where the Bulldogs have won three games in a row.

Fresno State’s non-conference home games against FCS Sacramento State ($350,000) and New Mexico State ($650,000) will cost $1 million.

The largest readily-available game guarantees in college football this season are slightly more than Fresno State will receive from Michigan, but the Bulldogs are near the top.

Alabama is paying Western Kentucky $1.9 million for an Aug. 31 game, Georgia is paying Massachusetts $1.9 million and Auburn is paying New Mexico $1.9 million.

Auburn also is paying Louisiana-Monroe $1.85 million, and there are several teams paying $1.8 million including Michigan to Arkansas State and Texas to Colorado State.

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In addition to this year’s game at Michigan, Fresno State the past few years has scheduled four seven-figure guarantee games including a 2023 matchup at Purdue for $1.3 million, which was the largest guarantee ever paid by the Boilermakers.

The Bulldogs also landed games at Washington in 2027 for $1.75 million and at USC in 2028 for $1.75 million.

Those four games will net Fresno State more than $6.6 million.

It also scheduled 2-for-1 series against Kansas and Texas Tech from the Big 12 Conference, both of which include $750,000 payments for Fresno State.

The Bulldogs won that 2023 game at Purdue 39-35, scoring the winning touchdown on a 22-yard pass from Mikey Keene to Erik Brooks with 59 seconds to play.

The Mountain West was 4-19 against Power Five conference opponents last season, including bowl games. Fresno State accounted for two of those wins, also winning at Arizona State. UNLV beat Vanderbilt and Wyoming beat Texas Tech — those games were on the Rebels’ and Cowboys’ home fields as part of a home-and-home series.

Fresno State since 2018 is 4-3 in its guarantee games, winning at UCLA in 2018 and 2021 and last season at Purdue and at Arizona State.

Fresno State also announced this week it has finalized a home-and-home series with Rice and added a game with FCS Cal Poly.

Fresno State will host Rice on Sept. 26, 2026, with the return game in Houston on Sept. 11, 2027. The game against Cal Poly is scheduled for Sept. 16, 2028, and completes the Bulldogs’ non-conference schedules through the 2028 season.

Upcoming Fresno State non-conference football games

2025

Aug. 23 - at Kansas

Aug. 30 - Georgia Southern

Sept. 6 - at Oregon State

Sept. 13 - Southern

2026

Sept. 5 - at USC

Sept. 12 - Sacramento State

Sept. 19 - at Washington State

Sept. 26 - Rice

2027

Aug. 28 - Utah Tech

Sept. 4 - at Washington

Sept. 11 - at Rice

Sept. 18 - Washington State

2028

Sept. 2 - Stanford

Sept. 9 - at USC

Sept. 16 - Cal Poly

Sept. 23 - at Georgia Southern

2029

Sept. 1 - at Stanford

Sept. 15 - Texas Tech

2030

Sept. 7 - at Texas Tech

Sept. 14 - Kansas

2031

Sept. 13 - at Kansas

2032

Sept. 4 - UCLA

Sept. 11 - at Texas Tech

This story was originally published August 9, 2024 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Fresno State is getting a big payday for its game at Michigan. Here’s where it ranks."