This Friday will be the real rivalry game

By Eddie Hughes

Today’s column serves as a proposal to no longer recognize San Jose State as Fresno State’s top rival.

This proposal shall also include a motion for the beginning of a new official rivalry with Hawaii and/or Boise State.

Not that many people see the Spartans as a legitimate rival as it is, but for the benefit of clarification, let’s take a look at the history behind the hatred.

Fresno State and San Jose State met for the first time in 1921—a Spartans’ victory. Today—after a 41-7 Bulldogs victory Saturday—Fresno State leads the all-time series 33-32-3.

The teams regularly battled for a spot in the Fresno-based California Bowl during their days as members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association and Big West conferences. From 1981-1991, Fresno State played in the bowl game five times, while San Jose State made four appearances.

The Bulldogs won five of 11 games against the Spartans during that span. But since 1991, Fresno State has won 10 straight in the series.

The Spartans last victory over the Bulldogs came in 1990, when Fresno State was not yet in the Western Athletic Conference.

It seems there should be some sort of rule pertaining to such dominance in a rivalry. It could be like the mercy rule in little league baseball, where if a team is ahead by 10 runs after four innings, the game automatically ends.

That’s how this rivalry should be. If one team beats another 10 straight meetings, the rivalry should no longer be considered such.

In fact, maybe these teams shouldn’t even play anymore. They’re on opposite sides of the college football spectrum. While Fresno State is moving up with the big boys of Division I-A, San Jose State is plummeting closer to the big boys of Division I-AA.

Since 1992, San Jose State has exactly two winning seasons. Good for zero bowl appearances.

At the same time, Fresno State has seven winning seasons (counting this one) and six bowl berths (seven if the Bulldogs get another this year).

The biggest similarity between these conference “rivals” is that their head coaches have the same last name—Fresno State’s Pat Hill and San Jose State’s Fitz Hill.

The only reason for the Bulldogs to keep San Jose State as a “rival” is for tradition’s sake. But the more San Jose State loses, the harder it is to remember way back when the Spartans won. And trust me, there was a time.

A rivalry game is supposed to be one of the biggest games of the year for the teams involved. But when a team fighting for the WAC title is playing a team fighting to stay out of last place, it can’t be considered that big of a game.

Fresno State players are naturally fired up for games with more worthy rivals Hawaii and Boise State. But to get fired up for San Jose State, the Bulldogs had to reflect on the distant past. They had to look back to a time when most of the players were still in elementary school to remember when San Jose State was a force.

To get fired up for Friday’s game against No. 20 Boise State on national television, the Bulldogs will need to look back just a year or two. Boise State crushed the Bulldogs on the blue turf 67-21 last season and ended Fresno State’s quest to crash the Bowl Championship Series in 2001 when the Bulldogs were undefeated and ranked eighth in the country.

It’s time for Fresno State to recognize the newer, more exciting rivalries.

Either that, or the Bulldogs can just wait for San Jose State to be good again.