UNLV head coach Bobby Hauck congratulates TCU head coach Gary Patterson after their game Saturday, October 30, 2010. TCU won the game 48-6.
Thursday, March 10, 2011 | 3:34 p.m.
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The UNLV football team is finally getting a break with its schedule.
The Rebels, which finished 2-11 last fall while matching up against nine bowl-qualifying teams from the previous year, will play Louisiana Tech and Utah State of the Western Athletic Conference in 2012, the school announced Thursday.
Next year, the Rebels have games scheduled with three teams — Boise State, TCU and Wisconsin — that last fall finished in the top 10 in continuing the tough slate of games.
UNLV will play at Utah State on Sept. 29, 2012, and host the Aggies on Sept. 28 of the following year. UNLV beat Utah State in 2008 and 2009.
UNLV will also travel to Louisiana Tech in 2012, visiting the Ruston, La., school on Oct. 6. Louisiana Tech will play at UNLV in September 2014.
It was previously announced that FCS Western Illinois was added to the schedule in 2013.
The 2012 schedule provides more opportunities for wins, unlike 2010 when then first-year coach Bobby Hauck was forced to play 23 freshman (including 14 true freshman) in going up against top opponents virtually every week. The more winnable games in 2012 — Hauck’s third year, when UNLV is expected to be more competitive — are in addition to home contests against Minnesota of the Big 10 and Washington State of the Pac-12.
Here is a look at the non-conference schedule through 2015. There is still one open date in 2014, and two in 2015.
2011 schedule
Sept. 3 at Wisconsin
Sept. 10 at Washington State
Sept. 17 HAWAII
Sept. 24 SOUTHERN UTAH
Oct. 1 OPEN
Oct. 8 at UNR
Oct. 15 at Wyoming
Oct. 22 OPEN
Oct. 29 COLORADO STATE
Nov. 5 BOISE STATE
Nov. 12 at New Mexico
Nov. 19 at Air Force
Nov. 26 SAN DIEGO STATE
Dec. 3 at TCU
— Home games in caps; final seven games are in the Mountain West Conference
2012 non-league opponents
Sept. 1 — Minnesota
Sept. 15 — Washington State
Sept. 29 — at Utah State
Oct. 6 — at Louisiana Tech
2013 non-league opponents
Aug. 31 — at Minnesota
Sept. 7 — Arizona
Sept. 21 — Western Illinois
Sept. 28 — Utah State
2014 non-league opponents
Aug. 30 — at Arizona
Sept. 27 — Louisiana Tech
Oct. 11 — Navy
2015 non-league opponents
Sept. 5 — at Navy
Sept. 12 — UCLA
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