Fresno State Athletic Corp. board members on June 25 approved the Bulldogs' tentative 2008-09 budget: $25.4 million. It won’t be official until signed by President John Welty.

Several things make the budget most interesting.

First, there's no anticipated surplus. Fresno State plans on $25.4 million in revenues, $25.4 million in expenditures, says board chairman Paul Oliaro.

No margin for error there.

Second, Fresno State officials for several years have worried about declining revenue streams. That's how the 2007-08 budget came in about $585,000 in the red as of June 25. Revenue from season-ticket sales in football and men's basketball, for example, was less than expected.

Yet, Fresno State officials expect 2008-09 revenues to jump $2 million over last year's estimate. A boost in a student fee, much of it earmarked for athletics, will generate another $1.3 million or so a year. But university officials at the meeting weren't clear on sources of the remaining revenue bump.

Maybe it's those football guarantees from Rutgers, Toledo and UCLA.

Third, university officials expect more ticket-revenue challenges in the two sports where such trends can be devastating to an athletic department's bottom line. They predict declines in gate receipts of $461,000 in football and $330,000 in men's basketball.

Granted, coach Pat Hill's football team has only five home games this year, compared to six in 2007. But Fresno State has never had a home game against a program with a tradition as rich as Wisconsin's.

And in 2007, the Bulldogs were coming off a disappointing 4-8 season. A fall in fan interest could be expected, at least until the Bulldogs proved they’d turned things around.

But, after the Bulldogs went 9-4 and beat Georgia Tech in the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl last year, Fresno State in 2008 is blessed with a compelling sales pitch.

Something is amiss, and it can’t all be blamed on the ailing economy.