There’s never really a quiet time covering local sports in Northern Nevada, but things are about to get a lot busier. Nevada’s athletic season starts with soccer’s season opener next week with football, volleyball and cross country (which still hasn’t announced a new head coach) beginning before the month ends. High school football also kicks off in two weeks, so the summer is basically over. We’ll miss you, summer. Let’s jump into this week’s Monday Mailbag questions. As always, thanks for the inquiries.

I first reported on a potential Mackay Stadium renovation in November while passing along the rendering in the tweet above after being invited to the invitation-only “Nevada Football Summit” last year that welcomed around 85 of the Wolf Pack’s biggest supporters. That summit was meant to pitch the group on a 10-year, $50 million investment plan into Nevada football with $10 million coming via the money the Mountain West owes Nevada when it collects the exit fees and poaching penalties from latest round of conference realignment. Additionally, Nevada secured a $2 million donation toward the cause, leaving $38 million to raise to reach that $50 million mark. Also pitched during that summit was the construction of a $25 million indoor facility in the short term and a $150 million renovation of Mackay Stadium in the long term. The indoor facility, now estimated at $32 million, is moving forward after being funded by a new student fee.

The stadium renovation was not pitched as something currently in the works. As I wrote last November: “Nevada’s pitch was if the Wolf Pack invests in football now and sees tangible results in fan interest through donations and season-ticket sales, it could eventually do a massive renovation of Mackay Stadium as Boise State has accomplished over the last two decades. The plan includes enclosing the north end zone. A new skybox would be installed on the west sideline and the south end zone would get premium seating or a concourse, depending upon which option was used (there are three options). Additionally, Nevada included a potential $70 million football operations building that would be built into the south end zone area. Ultimately, Nevada would like to increase its premium seating options since those are sold out and create the most revenue. So, while the capacity would be raised with this renovation, the biggest upside would be increasing high-revenue options that are already in demand.”

That’s all to say there is no timeline for a stadium renovation, which is a project that, even in the most expeditated best-case scenario where Nevada turns into a championship program and sells out Mackay Stadium every game, would be at least a decade away from becoming realistic. During the football summit, head coach Jeff Choate even joked he’ll be retired by the time Mackay would undergo this kind of $150 million renovation. But the Wolf Pack was selling the group, and community at large, on the idea that by investing in Nevada football now, something like this renovation could eventually happen. It will obviously take a ton of work, winning and community buy-in to get there. But at least Nevada is planning for the potential of this happening rather than doing nothing. As is, Nevada is still paying off its last renovation of Mackay Stadium, which cost around $14 million before the 2016 season.

Boise State offensive lineman Kage Casey wins Mountain West offensive player of the year.

That obviously won’t happen, but I do think he’ll be the MW’s best offensive player. The league is lacking high-end quarterbacks and running backs, so if there ever was a year where an offensive lineman should win player of the year, it’d be this season, and Casey is a first-round type talent at left tackle. You just never seen offensive linemen win league MVP.

ACC — Florida State (seventh in preseason poll)

Big Ten — Nebraska (eighth in preseason poll)

Big 12 — Kansas State (no preseason poll)

SEC — South Carolina (fifth in preseason poll)

Mountain West — San Jose State (third in preseason poll)

American — Army (sixth in preseason poll)

Conference USA — Louisiana Tech (no preseason poll)

MAC — Northern Illinois (fifth in preseason poll)

Sun Belt — South Alabama (fourth in West Division in preseason poll)

Nevada, Wyoming and San Diego State are the easy answers since they finished in the bottom three in win total among Mountain West schools last year with each winning just three games. Wyoming has seven-win talent this year; I just question the coaching. San Diego State should have a top-five defense, and coach Sean Lewis generally puts a good offense on the field (he didn’t in his first season with the Aztecs last year). And Nevada was better than its record indicated last season and has an easier schedule. I would not be shocked to see any of those teams be plus-three or four in wins. I doubt any other MW school is plus-three in wins.

Deep? No. Mountain West football had just five bowl-eligible teams last season, its fewest in a full season since 2012, and also failed to win multiple bowls for the first time since 2012 after going 1-4 in the postseason (a win over Cal and losses to Penn State, Miami (Ohio), South Florida and Northern Illinois). The MW had just two teams in the top 80 of ESPN’s Football Power Index last season (No. 27 Boise State and No. 40 UNLV) while having eight of its 12 teams at 100th or worse. The MW has slipped quite a bit in football over the years, although it did put Boise State in the College Football Playoff last year and should do the same this season with the American not nearly as strong after losing Cincinnati, Houston and UCF to the Big 12.

But I do think the MW has good parity entering this season. Like you said, Boise State is in a class of its own. After that, things are pretty flat. Everybody is assuming UNLV will be good because Dan Mullen is the Rebels’ head coach, but that roster was a massive rebuild. The talent gap between team Nos. 2-12 doesn’t seem massive, which could make for a fun and competitive season. But I wouldn’t confuse that with saying there’s a depth of talented top-60-type teams in the MW.

A hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 9 as the Mountain West looks to dismiss a pair of lawsuits against it, so that’s the next step in the process. These legal situations can take forever, so it’s hard to give an exact timeline. Hopefully things are settled by the end of 2025, although there’s no guarantee there.

Nevada men’s basketball will probably be picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll and could finished a lot higher than that. If you look at Steve Alford’s history, he rebounds from bad seasons with good ones.

He went 16-16 at Missouri State in 1997-98 and reached the NCAA Tournament and Sweet 16 the next season.

He went 14-16 at Iowa in 1999-2000 and reached the NCAA Tournament and round of 32 the next season.

He went 16-13 with Iowa in 2003-04 and reached the NCAA Tournament the next season.

He went 15-17 at UCLA in 2015-16 and reached the NCAA Tournament and Sweet 16 the next season.

And he went 13-18 at Nevada in 2021-22 and reached the NCAA Tournament the next season.

There’s a pattern here. I’m not predicting Nevada to make the NCAA Tournament this season, but if it happened, I would not be surprised given this pattern. Five of Alford’s six-worst seasons as a Division I head coach have been followed with an NCAA Tournament berth, which would require a top-four finish in the MW this season.

For a second team, I’ll throw out volleyball, which will probably be picked to finish last in the preseason poll but could place in the middle of the pack. I believe coach Shannon Wyckoff-McNeal gets that program turned around eventually.

I assume this is in response to my story on the website last week titled, “Why Jay Norvell feels vindicated leaving Nevada for CSU with Rams headed for the Pac-12.” I found his comments from Mountain West media days to be new and interesting, so I wrote about them. Norvell has discussed why he left Nevada before, but in this interview he indicated a feeling of vindication, And he brought up Nevada on his own. He wasn’t asked about leaving the Wolf Pack. If I didn’t write that story, the local community would not have heard those comments. And given the fact the story was the second-most read on our website last week behind only the MW’s statement on the departing five’s exit fees, it clearly showed people do “give AF about him.”

No. Nevada won both of its games in the Bahamas, including a 94-60 win over the University of Calgary and a 103-28 win over the Bahamas national team. Given the caliber of opponent, there’s nothing to read into these games. Murray State beat the University of Calgary, 103-77, and plays the Bahamas on Tuesday and Wednesday. It would have been nice to see Nevada play Murray State, a quality Division I program. But this trip was mostly about the extra 10 practices and bonding time the team got rather than the game results playing two inferior opponents.

Steve Alford’s name has been mentioned with a number of jobs during his seven-year tenure with the Wolf Pack. That doesn’t really impact fan support, in my opinion. Eric Musselman interviewed twice with Cal after his second season with the Wolf Pack, and Nevada posted record-setting attendance marks the next season (and year after that, too). If season tickets are down entering 2025-26, it’ll be because Nevada went 17-16 last season and not Alford’s name being attached to other jobs.

Caleb and Cody Martin both played for the NC State Wolfpack before playing for the Nevada Wolf Pack. Darrion Williams is going the other way, beginning his career with the Nevada Wolf Pack and ended it with the NC State Wolfpack (with a stint at Texas Tech in between).

That’s an exhibition game. Nevada women’s soccer’s season opener is Aug. 14 at Arizona State, which kicks off the Wolf Pack’s overall athletic season. Third-year head coach Vanessa Valentine has done a good job of making Nevada soccer more competitive with back-to-back Mountain West Tournament berths. The next step is the harder one to take, and that’s to become a good program as Nevada is 12-23-7 overall with RPI ranks of 256th and 269th the last two seasons. That’s a step up from where Nevada was before Valentine was hired, especially given the facility issues. Will that next step come this season? I would bet against it because Nevada lost Emily Rich, who did so much for the Wolf Pack’s offensive creation last season. The team struggled to generate anything on offense outside of Rich, and she’s now graduated. But the back-line defense should be better, which should help distribution to the midfield and spark more offense. It will be fun to see if Nevada soccer can take the next step in 2025.

Here are my predictions for the Northern Nevada high school leagues this season:

Class 5A: 1.Bishop Manogue; 2.Spanish Springs; 3.Reed; 4.Douglas; 5.Damonte Ranch; 6.Galena

Class 4A: 1.Reno; 2.McQueen; 3.Carson; 4.North Valleys; 5.Wooster; 6.Hug

Class 3A: 1. Truckee; 2. Elko; 3. Churchill County; 4. Fernley; 5. Spring Creek; 6. Lowry; 7. South Tahoe; 8. Sparks; 9. Dayton

The Brewers have had the best record in baseball since July 20, so they have at least been tied for first in the NL Central for the last 15 days. It’s going to be a fun race in the National League for the two first-round byes with the Brewers, Cubs, Mets, Phillies and Dodgers all in that race (and kind of the Padres). You could argue MLB’s top-six teams are in the National League. I don’t see the Blue Jays, who have the best record in the American League, better than any of those six. As for the Padres, they keep mortgaging their future to win now, which is the smart move given the age and contracts on the big-league roster. If they win a World Series in the next year or two, it’s worth it. If they don’t, the 2027-32 seasons are going to be even more painful. Here’s to hoping they don’t win a World Series in the short term, and I don’t think they will. The Dodgers will win the NL West. Who knows when it comes to the playoffs. Those are pretty random.

It’s possible but not likely. Jeff Choate said he wants to stay on the West when playing these one-game money contests. He was part of the decision-making to add Utah to the schedule. Texas isn’t in the Pacific or Mountain time zone, but it’s not too far east. I would guess these teams don’t play each other in the near future. Texas has one non-league game available in 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029, but Nevada is either full or plays at a Power 4 opponents in each of those seasons, including two road games at Power 4s in 2028. And it plays at Ohio State in 2030. So, the earliest a Nevada vs. Texas game could happen in 2031, and odds are one of Choate or Steve Sarkisian is no longer with their program by then. Texas is one of the biggest names Nevada has never faced, and now the Wolf Pack has an in. It’d be a cool game.

The point of the “Speedway Classic” was to set the record for largest attendance for an MLB game, but that Braves vs. Reds game ended up being a calamity. Like you said, the majority of the seats were super far away from the action, which makes no sense in baseball, and it seems like the concessions were terrible and gone before first pitch. The entertainment was Tim McGraw + Pitbull. Bad. The weather was a disaster. And it didn’t look very cool on television, either. Terrible idea from MLB, but what else would you expect from commissioner Rob Manfred? Swing and a miss.

The Battle at Bristol was better. A racetrack makes more sense for a football game than a baseball game. The sight lines are just too far away for the baseball game.

I could be misunderstanding the question, but if the hitter’s bat grazes the catcher’s mitt, the hitter is awarded first base, so it’s the same result.

It was Texans owner Bob McNair who reportedly said during an NFL owners meeting that the league “can’t have the inmates running the prison.” But no owner embodies that viewpoint more than the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones, who hasn’t put together a championship-caliber roster in almost 30 years.

The way college athletics is moving, more and more power is being concentrated within the SEC and Big 10. Those conferences will continue to work in their own self-interest instead of doing what’s best for the future of college athletics. The model that will be voted upon will likely give the power conferences a larger share of voting power (up to 65 percent) on key initiatives like the transfer portal, athlete eligibility and NIL. This is not a good thing for conferences like the Mountain West and schools like Nevada. It’d be like letting rich teams like the Dodgers and Yankees make up MLB’s rules. They’d obviously do everything they can to favor themselves at the expense of the Marlins, Pirates, et al. College athletics needs a central commissioner but will never have one as those conferences have fought hard to take power away from the NCAA and its president.

No, I wouldn’t do that because being consumed with hate in not a good look or good feeling. But Padres fans make it hard not to go this route as a Dodgers fan. They’re annoying.

My Little League team finished second out of nine teams in the regular season and were the only team to beat the regular-season champions in the regular season. In the playoffs, we were ousted in the quarterfinals, losing to the eventual champion, which rallied from an 8-2 deficit in the final inning of the title game to win 9-8. Better for us to lose early than suffer that fate. Overall, it was a great season, and another year begins next week with the fall season starting. We were the Angels in the spring and will be the Orioles in the fall (I picked the Orioles over the Cubs based on which hat I wanted to buy).

I’m not sure of the cost, but you could hit up Wolf Pack Sports Properties to get an answer on that. The number is 775-327-2071.

Zero percent. We don’t get enough snow anymore due to climate change. If the Winter Olympics are coming to our neck of the woods, they’re coming to Salt Lake City, which is hosting 2034 again after doing so in 2002.

Some terrible news in our Mountain West reporting network as Jennifer West, the partner of Albuquerque Journal reporter Geoff Grammer, has been diagnosed with breast cancer and could use some financial support. If you want to donate to the cause, you can do so on a GoFundMe page set up in her honor.

You just lost $200.

See y’all next week!

Sports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. He writes a weekly Monday Mailbag despite it giving him a headache and it taking several hours to write. But people seem to like it, so he does it anyway. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.