How UNLV can win for losing

By Ron Kantowski

Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 | 2 a.m.

UNLV will receive $400,000 for letting Arizona State’s Rudy Carpenter throw touchdown passes against its defense Saturday night down in Tempe.

In the words of Don Pardo, that’s a lovely parting gift.

But the man who scheduled the game said if he knew the Sun Devils were going to be this good, he would have held out for more money.

“Had we signed a deal two years ago, I think we could have got a little more out of them,” said Jerry Koloskie, UNLV associate athletic director.

The contract was signed seven years ago, when ASU wasn’t very good and Charlie Cavagnaro was the UNLV athletic director. He wasn’t very good, either, but that’s another story.

This is UNLV’s first game against a Pac-10 team since 2002 and its first “guarantee” game — where it gets paid for having its helmet handed to it — in several years. Most schools from non-BCS conferences will schedule major college powers now and then to see how they measure up and, more important, to make a quick buck.

UNLV was no exception, having been sacrificial lambs at places such as Nebraska and Tennessee. But when John Robinson came on board as coach, that mostly stopped.

“John Robinson’s philosophy was we’ll play anyone, anywhere — as long as they come here and play us” in return, Koloskie said.

Few except Wisconsin would, because when you play in a cavern disguised as a 90,000-seat stadium, it doesn’t make sense to give up a home game and its accompanying ticket revenue.

Koloskie said Robinson was willing to make an exception with ASU. For one, it was an easy trip. And considering the Sun Devils were 4-7 in 2001, he probably thought the Rebels could win.

The Rebels might be able to beat Michigan this year, too. Although Wolverines fans would love to visit Las Vegas — and local fans would love to have them — as long as the Big House is filled to its 106,201 capacity, it’s not likely to happen.

But what if you could get one of the Strip hotels to underwrite the game in return for becoming the Wolverines’ official host for the weekend?

“You could do it,” Koloskie said about finding a corporate sponsor to offset what Michigan would leave on the table at home. “But I still don’t think you’d get Michigan to move a home game. It’s hard to beat 105,000 people.”

Maybe the Rebels could go to Michigan. That’s what Utah did this year. Not only did the Utes win, they received a check for $800,000.

After expenses — plane charter ($111,000), bus ($4,000), hotel rooms for a traveling party of 135 ($38,000), food ($36,000) and incidentals (do you know what the Hyatt charges for an in-room movie?) — it still left Utah with a tidy profit of $607,000.

And then there’s the publicity the Utes received by winning. At the end of the day, Lou Holtz and Mark May were sticking decals on the Utah helmet during ESPN’s college football recap show, and how do you put a price tag on that?

“The SEC plays such a rigorous conference schedule, most can afford to schedule down for the first couple games,” Kyle Whittingham, the Utah coach, told the Salt Lake Tribune. “It’s understandable for them to do that, but we have to take these opportunities when we get them.”

But those games are still merely an option for programs such as Utah, which doesn’t have a budget crisis. For UNLV, which has moths coming from its wallet, they may become a necessity.

Koloskie said guarantee games are something the Rebels will probably take a longer look at, what with funding from Carson City drying up. The Rebels are even riding the bus to Arizona State — they’ll fly home — to put as much of that $400,000 in the cookie jar as they can.

UNLV has heard from Auburn, which also was offering a nice guarantee, except the Rebels didn’t have the right opening on the schedule. In fact, their next available one isn’t until 2014.

Future road opponents include Wisconsin, Hawaii (twice), Washington State, Minnesota and Arizona. But the Rebels also have a home game against Sacramento State next year.

They need to offer the Hornets the home game of “Concentration,” or what’s behind door No. 2, so they’ll step aside; then see if the Tigers or the War Eagles or the Bo Jacksons — it’s hard to keep Auburn’s nicknames straight — still want to play.

It’s only a 29-hour bus ride to Alabama, and the Rebels sure could use the money.