UCLA’s scheduling of Nevada a puzzling one

During the latter weeks of spring, it is quite common for college football coaches across the country to fill out the remaining open dates on their non-conference schedules. Like his colleagues, UCLA’s Rick Neuheisel is putting the finishing touches on future schedules with an agreement to face the Nevada Wolfpack.

According to the University of Nevada Cary Groth, Neuheisel and UCLA have agreeed to play Nevada three times in upcoming years, including one trip to Reno.

Nevada will travel to Pasadena to face the Bruins on August 31, 2013 and again on September 19, 2015. The Bruins will then come to Nevada’s Mackay Stadium on September 17, 2016.

Yesterday, Neuheisel released a statement addressing the scheduling of Nevada:

“Nevada is one of the top programs in the Western Athletic Conference,” said head coach Rick Neuheisel. “In addition, two of the three games are at the Rose Bowl. Reno is an easy trip from Los Angeles, so hopefully, a lot of Bruin fans will go to support us.”

After reading this, my question is why. Why should UCLA, a supposedly upper-echelon Pac-10 program, have to travel all the way to Reno as part of a home-and-home series? I have heard of lot Bruin fans explaining that the move is designed to help Neuheisel and company do a better job at targeting local Nevada. But, common. When has the state of Nevada ever been a hotbed for recruits. If they were really interested in recruiting, than why didn’t the Bruins schedule a home-and-home with SMU, located in Dallas, Texas; or even Central Florida, located in Orlando, Florida. Both schools, while non-BCS programs like Nevada, are at least located in pristine recruiting areas.

But recruiting aside, there is still little upside in traveling all the way to Reno. UCLA is playing a team that will be far more excited to play a BCS conference than they will be playing a team from the WAC. If UCLA does win the game, it’s no big deal. Just a win over Nevada-Reno. If they lose, it’s an upset and a stain on the program. I seed little upside in the decision to schedule Nevada.