Chris Murray

Murray's Mailbag: Has Nevada or Utah State had more revenue-sport success in the 2000s? The Nevada football season is just 19 days away from opening with the Wolf Pack playing at No. 2 Penn State on Aug. 30 (the Nittany Lions were only five vote po

The Monday Mailbag (📭)

* Nevada vs. Utah State
* New stadium = More wins?
* Pack FB floor/ceiling
* Nevada-Boise attendance
* The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
* Wild Island pool horn
* Mt. Rushmore of celebration injuries
* Wolf Pack license plates

Why WR Jordan Brown is Nevada football's 15th most important player in 2025 Despite being a first-year player in the Wolf Pack's program, Brown is the team's most experienced wideout having played 33 games in the Big 12, first at Kansas

Nevada football's 15th most important player this season is WR Jordan Brown, who immediately becomes the Wolf Pack's most experienced wideout after two seasons at Kansas and three at Texas Tech.

Nevada football adds game at Nebraska in 2029 for record-setting payday The Nevada football team will play at Nebraska in2029, adding another big-name opponent to the Wolf Pack's future game schedule, per a report fromFBSchedules.

Nevada football has scheduled a non-conference game at Nebraska in 2029 for a record-setting payday. It will mark the Wolf Pack's second game at Nebraska after opening the 2007 season in Lincoln, a 52-10 loss.

Morning Download: Ex-Reno High star Mikey Cruz Jr. transferring from UNLV to Nevada On weekday mornings, Nevada Sports Net will recap three big headlines of the day in its Morning Download. Read below for today's topics.

Today's Morning Download with the top headlines entering the day:

1⃣Ex-Reno High star Mikey Cruz Jr. transferring from UNLV to Nevada
2⃣Former Nevada associate head coach Johnny Jones gets HOF honor
3⃣Nevada alum Kitan Crawford makes strong NFL debut

Week in 1,000 Words: One Nevada Wolf Pack player to watch for in every sport in 2025-26 Nevada Sports Net columnist Chris Murray is known to be a bit wordy, so we're giving him 1,000 words (but no more than that) every Friday to share his thoughts

The Week in 1,000 Words column: With the Nevada athletic season starting next week, here is one Wolf Pack player to watch for in every sport entering the 2025-26 campaign.

Nevada opponent preview: Jason Eck tries to lift MW's most moribund program, New Mexico The Lobos hired Idaho's Jason Eck to replace Mendenhall after Eck led the Vandals to back-to-back FCS quarterfinal berths. He did less with more at Idaho and wi

Our Nevada football opponent preview series continues with New Mexico, which hosts the Wolf Pack for the first time since 2016. The Wolf Pack and Lobos were picked to finish bottom two in the Mountain West.

Why CB Edward Rhambo is Nevada football's 16th most important player in 2025 Nevada will have a rebuilt secondary this season with cornerback an intriguing position. UTEP transfer AJ Odums seems penciled in for one starting cornerback po

Nevada football's 16th most important player this season is CB Edward Rhambo, a transfer from Bowling Green (by way of Northern Arizona) who should play a big role in the Wolf Pack's rebuilt secondary.

Morning Download: Exiting Mountain West schools accuse league of fraud, withholding funds On weekday mornings, Nevada Sports Net will recap three big headlines of the day in its Morning Download. Read below for today's topics.

Today's Morning Download with the top headlines entering the day:

1⃣Departing MW schools accuse league of withholding funds, fraud
2⃣Nevada soccer hosts UC Davis in exhibition match
3⃣Wolf Pack track and field athlete lands milk deal

Ranking the Mountain West football head coaches entering the 2025 season The Mountain West welcomes just two new head coaches this season, although a third shifted from one school to another within the conference. There's signifciant

Our annual column ranking the Mountain West football head coaches entering the season, which includes a new No. 1.

Nevada leans on tight ends Jace Henry, Jett Carpenter to be 'engine' of Pack's offense Nevada tight ends coach Virgil Green will get the rare daily double this fall when he's inducted into the Wolf Pack athletics Hall of Fame as a player and also

While they might not put up huge stats this season, Nevada football is leaning on tight ends Jace Henry and Jett Carpenter to be the "engine" of the Wolf Pack offense.

Murray: My preseason AP Top 25 and 12-team College Football Playoff predictions College football's preseason AP Top 25 will be released Monday, but the due date for ballots to be filed was last week. I submitted mine and will vote in the To

I will vote in the AP Top 25 college football poll for the 14th straight season. Here is my preseason Top 25 with writeups on each team plus predictions for each round of the College Football Playoff.

Why LB Nahji Logan is Nevada football's 17th most important player in 2025 Nevada has an open competition at inside linebacker with Logan, Stone Combs, Austin Harnetiaux, Nakian Jackson and EJ Smith battling for two starting spots. Com

Nevada football's 17th most important player this season is LB Nahji Logan, a transfer from Indiana (and previously at UMass) who is the most experienced inside linebacker on the roster with starting positions there up for grabs.

Morning Download: Ex-Nevada track star lands movie role; Pack volleyball gets new court On weekday mornings, Nevada Sports Net will recap three big headlines of the day in its Morning Download. Read below for today's topics.1. Ex-Nevada track star

Today's Morning Download with the top headlines entering the day:

1⃣Ex-Nevada track star lands movie role
2⃣Wolf Pack volleyball gets a new court
3⃣Reno Aces' 2026 schedule is set

New-look Nevada secondary trying to live up to 'Dominate is a lifestyle' mantra Last season, the Nevada coaching staff inherited a secondary with zero return starters and plenty of question marks. The unit ended up playing well, producing

Nevada turned a rebuilt secondary into a solid unit last season and will try and do the same this year with the new-look group's mantra being "Dominate is a lifestyle."

Nevada's Aaliyah Jenkins named Mountain West Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Nevada's Aaliyah Jenkins was named the 2024-25 Mountain West Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the Wolf Pack's second scholar athlete of

Nevada's Aaliyah Jenkins has been named the Mountain West's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She's the Wolf Pack's second Scholar-Athlete of the Year since joining the MW in 2012.

Nevada women's soccer picked ninth out of 13 schools in preseason Mountain West poll The Nevada women's soccer team was picked to finish ninth out of 13 schools in the Moutain West preseason poll, which was released

The Nevada women's soccer team was picked to finish ninth out of 13 schools in the Mountain West coaches preseason poll. The Wolf Pack has finished in sixth place the last two seasons under Vanessa Valentine, who enters her third season as head coach.

Morning Download: Pac-12 remains open to expansion; ex-Nevada staffer goes viral On weekday mornings, Nevada Sports Net will recap three big headlines of the day in its Morning Download. Read below for today's topics.

Today's Morning Download with the top headlines entering the day:

1⃣Pac-12 remains open to further expansion
2⃣Ex-Nevada basketball staffer goes viral at DMV
3⃣Nevada football's kickoff time at Wyoming set

The Clone Wars: Nevada's lead running back role wide open with cast of similar players Many running back rooms across college football are known for their diversity of talent. You might have a bell-cow back who is supplemented with a goal-line ba

Nevada's lead running back role is wide open as a cast of players with similar skills vie for the top spot. Here's why the Wolf Pack has recruited an octet of backs with a similar skillset rather than building a group with more diversity.

Why WR Marshaun Brown is Nevada football's 19th most important player in 2025 A player with the last name of Brown should catch a lot of passes for the Wolf Pack this season, a byproduct of Nevada having three such players vying for a sta

Nevada football's 19th most important player this season is WR Marshaun Brown, who looks to emerge as one of the Wolf Pack's top targets after the team lost its top-two pass-catchers this offseason.

Morning Download: Nevada football to face highest-ranked team in program history On weekday mornings, Nevada Sports Net will recap three big headlines of the day in its Morning Download. Read below for today's topics.

Today's Morning Download with the top headlines entering the day:

1⃣Nevada football to face highest-ranked team in program history
2⃣Wolf Pack alum Leah John wins Epson Tour event
3⃣McQueen High alum Trent Virden qualifies for U.S. Amateur

Murray's Mailbag: What's the timeline for a full-scale Mackay Stadium renovation? There's never really a quite time covering local sports in Northern Nevada, but things are about to get a lot busier. Nevada's athletic season starts with socce

The Monday Mailbag (📭)

* Mackay Stadium renovation
* One MW football hot take
* Pack's surprise team in 2025-26
* Shoving Jay Norvell down your throat
* Nevada vs. Texas
* Calamitous Speedway Classic
* Future Lake Tahoe Olympics
* Padres going for it

Nevada football opponent preview: After bottoming out in 2024, SDSU looks to rebound The Aztecs were picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll with DE Trey White earning preseason defensive player of the year (LB Tano Letuli and K Gabe Plasc

Our Nevada football opponent preview series continues with San Diego State, which is coming off a similar year-one rebuild as the Wolf Pack. The Aztecs' defense should rebound in 2025. Will the same happen for SDSU's offense?

Nevada basketball closes out international trip with 103-28 win over the Bahamas The Nevada men's basketball team had little trouble with its two opponents during an international trip to the Bahamas.The Wolf Pack played a pair of games, bea

The Nevada men's basketball closed out its two-game international series with a 103-28 win over the Bahamas national team. The Wolf Pack also beat the University of Calgary.

Nevada's defense looks to make major gains after massive roster turnover in offseason Jeff Choate coached offense, defense and special teams while rising through the ranks as an assistant coach. But the 15 seasons he spent prior to accepting Neva

After small improvement last season, Nevada's defense looks to make major gains after massive roster turnover. Two areas Nevada must improve are third-down defense (worst in the nation in 2024) and creating havoc plays (13 takeaways in 13 games).

Nevada football announces 2025 game themes as single-game tickets go on sale The Nevada football team announced its 2025 game themes as the Wolf Pack put single-game tickets on sale.The Wolf Pack will host six home games this season, inc

Nevada football released its 2025 game themes while putting single-game tickets on sale. The Wolf Pack ranked eighth out of 12 Mountain West schools last year in per-game home attendance (17,288).

Why OL Jack Foster is Nevada football's 20th most important player in 2025 Nevada's biggest offseason loss was left tackle Isaiah World, a projected first-round draft pick who transferred to Oregon after being a rated a top-five player

Nevada football's 20th most important player this season is OL Jack Foster, who transferred in from Idaho and is in line to fill the big shoes of Isaiah World, who transferred to Oregon this offseason.

Morning Download: JaVale McGee signs with Australian team; Reno trio earns UNLV offers On weekday mornings, Nevada Sports Net will recap three big headlines of the day in its Morning Download. Read below for today's topics.

Today's Morning Download with the top headlines entering the day:

1⃣Nevada Hall of Fame JaVale McGee signs with Australian team
2⃣Reno trio lands scholarship offers from UNLV women's basketball
3⃣Ex-Nevada WR Cortez Braham Jr. commits to Memphis

Week in 1,000 Words: Why Nevada is banking on improved discipline to lead it in 2025 Nevada Sports Net columnist Chris Murray is known to be a bit wordy, so we're giving him 1,000 words (but no more than that) every Friday to share his thoughts

The Week in 1,000 Words column: On Nevada football's 2-6 record in one-possession games last season and why the Wolf Pack thinks it will reverse those numbers.

Fact check: Did Nevada athletics renege on $5 million exit fee to leave WAC in 2010? Whenever I write something about the Mountain West and the exit fees the conference is trying to collect from its five departing schools, like I did yesterday,

Settling this situation once and for all — Did Nevada renege on its $5 million exit fee to leave the WAC in 2010, and does that make the Mountain West's insistence on collecting current exit fees hypocritical?

Nevada looks to replicate last year's quarterback success, only with new personnel Last season, the Nevada football team took a quarterback with talent who hadn't reached his potential and helped him produce a career year.That will be the same

Nevada squeezed a career year out of quarterback Brendon Lewis last season and will try and do the same this season with Chubba Purdy, only with a new coordinator running the offense.