Boston Rebel 2 said:

Supposedly because they believe Vegas is a pro sports town and not as much upside for college. And not worth the exit fee payment.

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You mean like Colorado.

Rebel1986 said:

Arizona has UNLV at 16th.

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Yeah I saw someone else point that out. 16th is way too high, but I like it!

ckfitz said:

The article said that another reason UNLV wasn't chosen is because they wanted additional schools to be located more towards the east. If tying UNLV and Reno was a major cause, how did they know that without talking with the Regents? Something is not right here. I also think that wanting to get schools outside of the west, seems like a weak secondary reason for not choosing UNLV. I'm becoming more suspicious.

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Supposedly because they believe Vegas is a pro sports town and not as much upside for college. And not worth the exit fee payment.

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IMO, it seems like it would be really difficult for Tulane and Memphis to commit to this new conference. A few of the challenges are:

1. AAC departure. The current conference requirements say a departing school needs to provide a 27 month notice, as well as pay a $10 exit fee. The thing that sticks out most is the 27 month exit fee, since the PAC would need the new schools to be part of the conference sooner than that. It's likely the conference would let them go earlier, but at a higher exit fee. In the last round of exits (Houston, etc), it was $18 million per school with the shorter notice.

2. No known media deal for the the PAC conference. The current AAC deal gives each school around $7 million per year, so they would have to give that up, for an unknown amount as part of the new PAC deal.

3. Travel. Currently, the 4 of the 6 schools in the new PAC are on the West coast, with Boise State not being too far from the west and CSU being the most central. Assuming that the PAC adds Tulane and Memphis, you'd be logging a ton of travel time and expense. It isn't terrible for football only, due to the lower number of games, but it would definitely add up for all other sports, which is what I'm assuming the PAC is looking to fill the spots for, not football only. It wouldn't be as bad for the other 6 PAC schools since they're mostly regional, and they would only have to travel to Tulane and Memphis periodically, but Tulane and Memphis would be making those long trips for 6 of their 7 roadtrips.

Got my tickets. Taking my brother and my dad. He hasn't been to a Rebel game in probably 30+ years. LFG..........Rebels can't drop this one. We are on the verge of something special.

Stoker016 said:

Beat Fresno at home and that home game against Syracuse will be, by far, the biggest and most comsequential game in program histroy. 2 top 25 teams, at home, a ton of new fans, a chance to open more seats, and start 5-0 and move top 20. A massive opportunity to take things to the next level as a program

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Definitely. But that Fresno game will be though. It's early in the season, so it's still tough to know how good teams are, but they went into Michigan and played a respectable game (lost 30-10). The 2nd game they won against Sac St. The 3rd game is the one that really confuses me. FSU beat NM State 48-0. The week before, NM State led the whole game but lost at the end to Liberty, who is supposedly one of the best G5 teams. And FSU throttled them. I didn't watch the game though, so couldn't say for sure if it was FSU playing well, NM State playing terrible, or both, but either way, it was an impressive score.

Just picked up 5 tickets. Looking forward to the game!

Beat Fresno at home and that home game against Syracuse will be, by far, the biggest and most comsequential game in program histroy. 2 top 25 teams, at home, a ton of new fans, a chance to open more seats, and start 5-0 and move top 20. A massive opportunity to take things to the next level as a program

Maybe there are 12 large reasons why

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Bullmastiff 1 said:

If true only things I can think of are...

UNLV was never really a top option to begin with.

UNLV doesn't have the money to pay an exit fee.

UNLV is listening to other offers potentially from the AAC and weighing their options.

UNLV feels or knows a BIG12 invite is coming.

I can't think of any other hurdles.

I also don't think the BOR would block the move when push came to shove. Sure they might grandstand and make a show of it but don't think they would block it.

Although after reading the entire article it sounds like this was a plan from a year ago not anything that has been linked recently. (Maybe I'm interpreting it wrong?)

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The article said that another reason UNLV wasn't chosen is because they wanted additional schools to be located more towards the east. If tying UNLV and Reno was a major cause, how did they know that without talking with the Regents? Something is not right here. I also think that wanting to get schools outside of the west, seems like a weak secondary reason for not choosing UNLV. I'm becoming more suspicious.

Bullmastiff 1 said:

I've asked same thing but they keep popping up in any discussion involving PAC targets.

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I mean they're 1-2 this year, but they lost by 15 @ #15 Oklahom, and lost by 7 at home against #13 KState. They did change coaching staffs this last year (and we beat the team that staff went to on the road) but have been playing pretty well even without the Ws. In addition they're a really good academic school--but only really have okay market penetration in Nawluns. Saints and Bayou Bengals I think are more represented in that media market.

TimothyC3 said:

You realize that KU is a basketball school and their win/loss record the the last 20 years is comparable to UNLV’s and the last 5 years their home attendance is just over 29k. The fan base is in basketball. The ratings are good because the game was on ESPN at prime time and that’s my point. If it were CBS Sports it wouldn’t register.

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If you have been paying attention, they have had a notable increase in interest in football. This year their Attendance numbers are down because they have to play in a soccer stadium and they are totally upgrading their on campus football stadium.

Like I said, Illinois drew 112k for their first game, and 814k against Kansas. in primetime on a Saturday with other big games competing for eyeballs.

Kansas fans are watching.

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Bullmastiff 1 said:

Didn't somebody from PAC say football was a requirement? They weren't looking for basketball only? (I could be wrong thought I read that somewhere)

I keep seeing Rice mentioned along with UTSA as possible additions.

Totally agree the MWC is not sustainable.

I mean I guess if they get a quick influx of money from the exit fee/poaching thing they could try and attract some CUSA schools to stem the bleeding.

But potentially losing AFA feels like a nail in the coffin. Maybe not the final one but one or two before it.

I really feel like BIG12 is a pipe dream. UNLV would bring them to 17. Are they looking to expand? Do they want to go as high as 18? I mean I hope it happens and not ruling it out. Just don't know if there are any legs to it other than us fans hoping.

A 1/2 cut of current BIG12 media deal would still far exceed current MWC deal so I think you absolutely jump on it.

Attendance for basketball and football would go through the roof creating a massive influx of money.

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PAC supposedly wants Gonzaga and St Mary's. I don't see Big 12 happening best case scenario is the PAC which is probably lateral from the MWC or maybe slightly better. The AAC without Memphis and Tulane is a huge drop off.

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RRebel said:

what would you rather have UNLV choose: a full equal share in the PAC 12, or 1/2 the share in the BIG 12 until their media deal expires?

I’d obviously pick BIG 12 because I feel like the conference is far superior, especially basketball. But the person I was talking to said they’d rather join the pac 12. Their point was UNLV with a 1/2 share in the BIG 12 would put them at a big time spending disadvantage compared to the other teams and we wouldn’t be able to compete. On the surface it makes sense.

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It would likely be a contingency. First 3/5 years half share.

The flipside of that is attendance for both basketball and football would Sky rocket. You are still at a disadvantage in terms of media share that's true.

But.

I have to imagine having B12 attached to UNLV might get more boosters to step up. Might also encourage more entities to kick into NIL funds.

There is a real possibility that it ends up neither of those and instead the AAC.

what would you rather have UNLV choose: a full equal share in the PAC 12, or 1/2 the share in the BIG 12 until their media deal expires?

I’d obviously pick BIG 12 because I feel like the conference is far superior, especially basketball. But the person I was talking to said they’d rather join the pac 12. Their point was UNLV with a 1/2 share in the BIG 12 would put them at a big time spending disadvantage compared to the other teams and we wouldn’t be able to compete. On the surface it makes sense.

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unlv7163 said:

Came across this article that says the PAC 12 decision to not invite UNLV was due in part to being tied to Reno, “but wasn’t the only reason”. Any idea what that means? They say after that they wanted to keep options open, but thought it could be more than that. Came from an “industry source” so not sure how viable the information is. Just thought it’s interesting.

Link

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If true only things I can think of are...

UNLV was never really a top option to begin with.

UNLV doesn't have the money to pay an exit fee.

UNLV is listening to other offers potentially from the AAC and weighing their options.

UNLV feels or knows a BIG12 invite is coming.

I can't think of any other hurdles.

I also don't think the BOR would block the move when push came to shove. Sure they might grandstand and make a show of it but don't think they would block it.

Although after reading the entire article it sounds like this was a plan from a year ago not anything that has been linked recently. (Maybe I'm interpreting it wrong?)