True rivalry would be boon for state, conference

You should.

Now before you conspire to overturn my car and set it ablaze – and, for the record, it’s a 10-year-old, white Jeep Grand Cherokee with the words "Reno Gazette-Journal" painted on the side – hear me out.

I’m not asking you to root for them to win. We don’t need to jump into sacrilegious territory here. But the entire Silver State wins if UNLV can turn this annual behind-the-woodshed beat-down into what everybody likes to call it (even if it isn’t) – an actual by-goodness rivalry.

At least as important, the Mountain West Conference would win, too. And the MWC could use some good football vibes.

Sure, it’s fun to wear your FUNLV T-shirts and know a few snaps into the second half that the Fremont Cannon is going to stay blue again for another year. But these lopsided affairs are coming at a cost, more than ever now since the schools are in the same conference.

It has been eight years since the Rebels won this game. Cary Groth had just been named UNR athletic director. UNLV is on its third coach since then. The Wolf Pack have won the past four meetings by a combined score of 193-81.

The state of Nevada is starved for attention when it comes to college football, and the eroding of the MWC in the past couple of years hasn’t helped.

The MWC doesn’t have a strong rivalry anymore. That went away when Utah went to the Pac-12 and Brigham Young went independent. Losing Texas Christian (this summer) and Boise State and San Diego State (next summer) isn’t helping when it comes to football, either.

Look at the schools that remain: Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, New Mexico, Wyoming, UNLV, UNR and Hawaii. Utah State and San Jose State move in next summer.

The best rivalry in that group is Colorado State-Wyoming, and most people east of the Mississippi probably would be shocked to learn that, yes, the states share a border and the two schools are only about an hour apart. But when was the last time anyone outside of the Rockies cared about that game?

Imagine a UNR-UNLV game in late November for the MWC title. People like to pay attention to this state. We’re the weird uncle that wears a hairpiece and dates girls 25 years our junior. You can’t take your eyes off us. If we’re playing meaningful football games late in the season, it’s marketable – at least to some degree.

You can’t say that about every state. Say, for example, New Mexico State gets into the MWC in the next few years. If NMSU and New Mexico are playing for the conference crown, does anybody east of Santa Fe pay attention?

And the MWC is trying to find a TV partner and maximize its profits in the process. It’s hard to imagine that today Comcast or CBS Sports Network or NBC Sports Network or even ESPN is champing at the bit to add MWC football (of course, basketball is another story). The conference needs a football rivalry it proudly can show off, and the only one that’s feasible is UNR-UNLV.

Besides, other than the cannon, what do you get with another four-touchdown victory over a team that wins, on average, about two or three games a year? Other than unbridled joy, that is.

Dan Hinxman’s columns appear in the Reno Gazette-Journal. Email him at dhinxman@rgj.com and follow him on Twitter: @DanHinxmanRGJ.