The Fresno State Bulldogs finished last season with a record of 10-4 and a Mountain West record of 7-1 which led to a 1^st place finish in the West Division in the Mountain West with an appearance in the Mountain West Championship game against the Boise State Broncos which resulted in a 28-16 win for the Bulldogs and an appearance in the LA Bowl against the Washington State Cougars which resulted with a 29-6 win for Fresno State and the Bulldogs finished the season ranked 24^th in the AP Poll and 24^th in the Coaches Poll. 

The Bulldogs will have a new Offensive Coordinator this season after Kirby Moore left to become the Offensive Coordinator for the Missouri Tigers with the hiring of Pat McCann to serve as the Offensive Coordinator. This season, the Fresno State Bulldogs enter the season with an over/under win total of 8.5 wins which means the Bulldogs are projected to make a bowl game for the 3^rd consecutive season and based on Vegas odds are projected to be the 2^nd best team in the Mountain West only behind the Boise State Broncos as the Bulldogs are +300 to win the Mountain West Conference this season.

Purdue finished last season with a record of 8-6 and a record of 6-3 in the Big Ten Conference which led to a 1^st place finish in the Big Ten West Division with an appearance in the Big Ten Championship game against the Michigan Wolverines which resulted in a 22-43 loss for the Boilermakers and an appearance in the Citrus Bowl against the LSU Tigers which Purdue lost by a score of 7-63. The Boilermakers will have a new head coach this season after Jeff Brohm left to become the head coach for the Louisville Cardinals with the hiring of Ryan Walters who recently served as the Defensive Coordinator for the Illinois Fighting Illini from 2021-2022. 

Walters hired Graham Harrell to become the new Offensive Coordinator and Kevin Kane to become the new Defensive Coordinator Harrell most recently served as the Offensive Coordinator for the West Virginia Mountaineers while Kane recently served as the Assistant Head Coach/Outside Linebacker Coach for the Illinois Fighting Illini from 2021-2022. This season, the Purdue Boilermakers enter the season with an over/under win total of 5 wins which means the Boilermakers are not projected to become bowl-eligible this season and based on Vegas odds are projected to be the 4^th worst team in the Big Ten as Purdue is only projected to finish better than the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Northwestern Wildcats, and Indiana Hoosiers.

BookMaker has the Purdue Boilermakers listed as 3.5-point favorites at home against the Fresno State Bulldogs in week 1 of the college football season on Saturday. This will be the first time in the history of these programs that they will face each other in college football. Fresno State finished last season with a record of 7-7 ATS overall, 3-4 ATS on the road, and 2-2 ATS as an underdog while Purdue finished 5-9 ATS overall, 1-5 ATS at home, and 2-4 ATS as a favorite.

Fresno State is projected to finish with a better record this season as they enter the season with an over/under win total of 8.5 wins and are projected to be one of the best teams in the Mountain West while Purdue enters the season with an over/under win total of 5 wins and are projected to be one of the worst teams in the Big Ten. Fresno State is a more experienced team and with the Boilermakers having to deal with a new system I give the advantage to the Bulldogs which is why I am buying the .5 point and taking the Fresno State Bulldogs +4 on BookMaker for this matchup on Saturday.