The Nevada Sagebrush

Rumors are swirling that the Mountain West Conference will invite Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada to join. If true, Nevada would face UNLV twice during the basketball season and would play schools like Utah and BYU every year. Photo by Casey Durkin/Nevada Sagebrush

Imagine Nevada’s football team playing Utah, Texas Christian University, Boise State, Brigham Young University and University of Nevada, Las Vegas all in the same season. Now, think about the Wolf Pack’s basketball teams facing off against UNLV, San Diego State and New Mexico twice a year.

Sound enticing?

Rumors are swirling again that the Mountain West Conference will invite Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada to join the nine-team conference.

The MWC would then be split into two divisions and have a conference championship game, much like the Big 12. Should Nevada be interested?

Yes.

Of course, the rumors are buzzing because of Boise State’s and TCU’s possible Bowl Championship Series problems, with a chance that both teams could end the season undefeated, but with only one making a BCS bowl game.

Ever since Utah brought up the antitrust case against the BCS earlier this year, the MWC has been the center of debate on whether it deserves an automatic berth.

But, regardless of whether the MWC gets an automatic BCS berth, this deal should be made because of the effects that go beyond just football.

This is a chance for all the major players to put up or shut up in their respective sports.

In football, for example, Boise State is always complaining that no one will play them. Nevada is an up-and-coming program that has been trouncing its conference opponents.

TCU, Utah and BYU always say the conference needs one stronger opponent to join. Fresno State says they’ll play anybody anytime anywhere. The chance to see these teams duke it out sounds like a match made in heaven to me.

But, the chance to join the MWC would benefit Nevada far beyond the field of play.

The opportunity for the Wolf Pack to play ranked team after ranked team will not only drive up interest in the school, but get attendance for the school’s two biggest money making sports, football and basketball, to rise.

It’s no secret that the Wolf Pack struggles to get fans to attend sporting events. What better way to drive up attendance than scheduling multiple opponents that reach bowl games and NCAA Tournaments every year?

Also, the MWC would be strengthening itself in other smaller sports as well. Fresno State’s baseball team, for example, won the College World Series in 2008.

Nevada’s swimming and diving team, rifle team and softball team are consistently among the best teams in the nation.

Also, being in the same conference as UNLV would add a lot more fuel to the fire in its rivalry with UNR. While Nevada-UNLV faceoffs are intense already, just look at the best rivalries across the nation in football and in basketball. Ohio State-Michigan. Texas-Oklahoma. Florida-LSU. Duke-North Carolina. Why are these rivalries great?

A big part of the reason is because there are usually huge conference title implications and, sometimes, national title implications.

While Nevada/UNLV may not be as great as those other rivalries, games between the two schools would be a lot more fun to watch and draw out much more passion if the game meant more than just bragging rights.

I mean, can you really tell me you wouldn’t be more interested in the Nevada-UNLV rivalry if the teams played each other with a trip to the conference title game, or a trip to a bowl game or NCAA Tournament on the line?

Lukas Eggen can be reached at leggen@nevadasagebrush.com.

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