FRESNO, Calif. -- Fresno State hired former California coach Jeff Tedford on Thursday to take over the struggling Bulldogs program.A news conference will be held Friday to officially introduce Tedford as the replacement for the recently fired Tim DeRuyter. Tedford will take over after the season concludes with interim coach Eric Kiesau keeping his duties for the final two games for the Bulldogs (1-9).Jeff possesses all the qualities we were looking for in a head coach, athletic director Jim Bartko said. First and foremost, integrity, plus a great football mind and the ability to come in and hit the ground running. When you have the opportunity to hire someone who knows this valley and is Bulldog Born, Bulldog Bred, there is not a better choice.Tedford has deep ties to Fresno State. He played quarterback there in the 1980s under Jim Sweeney and coached under Sweeney from 1987-88 and 1992-96. He stayed on the staff for one more year under Pat Hill in 1997 before becoming offensive coordinator at Oregon and then head coach at Cal.Coming to Fresno State is coming home for myself and my family, he said. To have this special opportunity to return to my coaching roots is truly a dream come true. Our mission will be to grow and develop young people to reach their full potential in all areas ... academically, athletically, socially and spiritually ... to compete at high levels in the classroom and on the field while doing so with great character and high integrity. I look forward to reconnecting with all the past players and supporters to help bring the program back to prominence.After taking over a one-win team at Cal following the 2001 season, Tedford quickly built the Bears into a contender. Cal finished the 2004 season ranked ninth in the country as Tedford helped develop quarterback Aaron Rodgers into a first-round pick.Coach Tedford is one of the finest minds that I have ever been around, Rodgers said. I felt that right away when I got to Cal, and I was very fortunate to be able to spend two years working together. ... Coach put me in a great position to play my best ball there and then to move on and have an opportunity in the NFL.Tedford had an 82-57 record in 11 seasons at Cal and was fired after going 3-9 in 2012. He was hired as offensive coordinator by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014 but had health issues in the preseason and eventually left without coaching a game. He spent the 2015 season in the CFL as head coach in British Columbia and has been an offensive consultant at Washington this season for Chris Petersen.DeRuyter was fired last month following a 1-7 start in his fifth season. He won Mountain West titles in each of his first two seasons but struggled after star quarterback Derek Carr left for the NFL.---More AP college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 Cheap NFL Jerseys . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. http://www.cheapjerseysleague.com/ .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. Wholesale NFL Youth Jerseys . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Cheap Shirts From China . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Months after South Dakota defeated Florida Gulf Coast in a WNIT championship game that doubled as a celebration of mid-major basketball, neither the Coyotes nor Eagles land in the preseason mid-major top 10.Some gratitude, right?But its all part of the same story. There is a lot of good basketball played in the mid-major conferences -- enough to produce a WNIT final between teams that deserved to be in the larger tournament.?Ignore these teams at your own peril.1. South Dakota State2015-16 record: 27-7; lost in NCAA tournament second roundSouth Dakota State was about a minute away from the Sweet 16 a season ago. After upsetting Miami in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, the Jackrabbits led Stanford by four with 86 seconds to play in the round of 32. The win slipped away, but the message was delivered: South Dakota State is a perennial Summit League powerhouse. And now the Jackrabbits -- No. 25 in espnWs preseason top 25 rankings -- return players who were responsible for 86 percent of the minutes in that game against Stanford. The Jackrabbits schedule this season includes trips to Oklahoma and Louisville and a mid-major clash against Green Bay.Name to know: Macy Miller. South Dakota State sticks around year after year because its never built around one player, but Miller is a heck of a cornerstone. Her elegant offensive game would work at any level.2. Western Kentucky2015-16 record: 27-7; lost in WNIT quarterfinalsThe Hilltoppers are here with an assist from the states two heavyweights. Former Louisville coach Michelle Clark-Heard is now the head honcho at Western Kentucky. And Kentucky is the source for impact transfers Jaycee Coe and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers (Goodin-Rogers will be eligible after the fall semester). Another vital addition: homegrown point guard Micah Jones, who was granted a fifth year after she tore her ACL in the second game last season. Western Kentucky will get a chance to turn some heads this season with games against DePaul, Indiana and Louisville (and potentially at least one of Baylor, Ohio State and Syracuse).Name to know: Kendall Noble. She has been a conference freshman of the year, player of the year and twice its defender of the year. Whats left after averaging 18.1 points per game, 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists? Maybe All-American.3. Chattanooga2015-16 record: 24-8; lost in NCAA tournament first roundJim Foster started his schedule this season with games against Rutgers, Florida and Indiana, so maybe the Chattanooga coach thinks he has something special (games against Connecticut, Louisville and Notre Dame follow, as well as mid-major peers Green Bay and Florida Gulf Coast). The Lady Mocs return their three leading scorers and just about all the meaningful minutes that didnt go to Alicia Payne. They also welcome back Chelsey Shumpert, an all-conference pick whose 2015-16 season was reduced to three games by injury.Name to know: Jasmine Joyner. Only Bethune-Cookmans Kailyn Williams has more blocks among active Division I players, and Joyner got off to a slow start with 56 blocks as a freshman. She has 258 the past two seasons.4. Penn2015-16 record: 24-5; lost in NCAA tournament first roundPenn battled back and forth with Washington in their first-round game last season, even though the Huskies won in the end. The reigning Ivy League champions return all six players who averaged double-digit minutes in 2015-16. The teams two centerpieces: Michelle Nwokedi and Sydney Stipanovich (19.7 rebounds per game and 5.4 blocks per game between them), and a deep backcourt with plenty of shooters carries its weight. Dont sleep on the opener at Duke.Name to know: Michelle Nwokedi. She was a bit player as a freshman and then transformed into a sophomore who rarely left the court. Her development changed the trajectory of the teams national potential.5. Green Bay2015-16 record: 28-5; lost in NCAA tournament first roundFirst, the bad news: Megan and Kaili Lukan will not be with Green Bay this season. Both sisters graduated after enjoying a successful career on the court; they both embodied the program well. The Phoenix also lost Tesha Buck to transfer. But heres the good news: Allie LeClaire, MMehryn Kraker and Jessica Lindstrom are returning.dddddddddddd The trio averaged double-digit scoring last season. And with three redshirt freshman, coach Kevin Borseth is back to his old stockpiling ways.Name to know: Jessica Lindstrom. In a breakout sophomore season, Lindstrom grabbed nearly twice as many rebounds as any teammate, but she still hit 44 3-pointers.6. Saint Louis2015-16 record: 26-8; lost in WNIT third roundThe Atlantic 10 is fertile mid-major ground, but Saint Louis is a less familiar representative in these rankings. These Billikens belong. Led by bona fide star Jackie Kemph, the team returns seven of nine rotation regulars. The Billikens also add Michigan transfer Paige Rakers, a needed 3-point asset, and Akron transfer Kerri McMahan. Unfortunately, while the A-10 offers challenges, Saint Louis didnt do itself favors with its schedule. Marquee home games against Missouri and Washington State probably wont be enough to build any kind of NCAA at-large résumé.Name to know: Jackie Kemph. No returning player in the country averaged more assists per game last season, yet Kemph is also the third-leading returning scorer in the A-10. Shes still just a junior.7. Belmont2015-16 record: 24-9; lost in NCAA tournament first roundThe Bruins return all six players who started double-digit games en route to the NCAA tournament a season ago, which is promising continuity for a group that ranked in the top 30 nationally in overall field goal shooting, 3-point shooting and assist-to-turnover ratio. They also have useful size in 6-foot-3 Sally McCabe, the Ohio Valley Conference defensive player of the year. Belmont isnt going to get an at-large tournament bid, but home games against Green Bay and IUPUI offer notable tests, as do road trips to Louisville and Minnesota.Name to know: Darby Maggard. Ranked No. 74 among incoming freshmen a season ago, sandwiched between Michigan and Ohio State signees, the 5-foot-5 Maggard played up to those credentials as a freshman.8. Gonzaga2015-16 record: 19-14; lost in WNIT second roundA loss against Utah in the WNIT snapped Gonzagas streak of nine consecutive 20-win seasons, a stretch that included four trips to the Sweet 16. Some might see that as a sign of decline, but a healthy Elle Tinkle and a lot of backcourt depth might instead make it an aberration. Eligible transfers Chandler Smith (Nebraska) and Makenlee Williams (Utah State) could help. The Bulldogs play Stanford, Michigan and Florida State in the span of eight days in November.Name to know: Jill Barta. Did the versatile, 6-3 Barta emerge late in the season as the next in a line of standouts, or did she feast on weak competition? Well see, but she was fantastic in the WCC as a redshirt freshman.9. Colorado State2015-16 record: 31-2; lost in NCAA tournament first roundThis is not the team that won 31 games last season. Of the seven players who played meaningful minutes against South Florida in the NCAA tournament, only three remain. The Rams didnt lose everything, though. In addition to Ellen Nystrom, the Mountain West preseason player of the year, the Rams return Elin Gustavsson, Stine Austgulen and Hannah Tvrdy, all of whom played important minutes last season.Name to know: Ellen Nystrom. Shes the reason to believe Colorado State has an encore, whether its through scoring or making others better. Shes a triple-double waiting to happen.10. Bucknell2015-16 record: 25-8; lost in WNIT second roundThe Bison had to rank among the most injury-ravaged teams in the country last season, yet they still won a game in the postseason. So while graduating scorer Jacquie Klotz is a blow, simply staying healthy could alleviate much of that pain. That includes co-captain Megan McGurk, who missed the second half of last season. Early trips to North Carolina and Rutgers are interesting opportunities against wounded traditional powerhouses.Name to know: Claire DeBoer. 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