Fresno State or Florida State?

This is the second in an occasional series of short reports examining some of college football’s spring story lines. Today: Which FSU do you like?

Florida State thinks it can field a squad despite coming off a 7-6 season and an academic scandal that forced dozens of players to sit out the Seminoles’ loss to Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.

Bobby Bowden, entering his 33rd season as coach, turns 79 in November and hasn’t won a national title since 1999. Drew Weatherford, the prospective starter at quarterback, will sit out spring drills because of a knee injury.

Other than that, it’s national title or bust.

Fresno State is building from a 9-4 season and may be favored to win its first outright Western Athletic Conference title since 1999.

Spring forward: Fresno State’s schedule is built to kill, but the wounds might be self-inflicted. Bulldogs Coach Pat Hill is now opening at Rutgers on Labor Day after Kansas State pulled out of a Sept. 6 commitment. Fresno State then has a week off before hosting Wisconsin on Sept. 13. Then it’s at Toledo and at UCLA.

If Fresno State goes 4-0 in nonconference against Rutgers, Wisconsin, Toledo and UCLA, well, that would make the Bulldogs a top-10 team.

–Chris Dufresne