March 2, 2016 LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV Football will end the regular season by hosting the annual Battle for the Fremont Cannon vs. Nevada, Reno for only the second time in four decades as the Mountain West Conference released its entire 2016 schedule Wednesday.
The scheduling format for the 12-member football lineup consists of five intra-divisional games and three cross-divisional contests. Each institution will play four home and four road conference games. This is the fourth year of the initial four-year cycle in which each member institution will play every other Mountain West opponent.
The 2016 schedule will play out over 14 weeks and conclude on Sat., Dec. 3 with the Mountain West Football Championship Game to be played at the home stadium of the higher ranked of the two divisional champions.
Mountain West national television partners CBS Sports Network and ESPN will now initiate a selection procedure that will also include additional shifting of particular games to Thursdays and Fridays. That will be followed by the identification of network outlets and kick times, along with the picks for regional partner ROOT SPORTS, the Mountain West Network powered by Campus Insiders and Oceanic Time Warner Cable (Hawaii).
The 49th season of UNLV football kicks off Sept. 1 with the Rebels hosting FBS opponent Jackson State for the first time since 1975 as part of a special Thursday night opener.
UNLV will then take its two non-conference road trips in back-to-back weeks. The Rebels visit the historic Rose Bowl Stadium for the first time ever to play Pac-12 Conference power UCLA in a return game with the Bruins on Sept. 10, and then travel to Central Michigan one week later to mark UNLV's first trip to the Mid-American Conference school since 1994.
The only back-to-back home games of the fall are up next as Idaho comes to Las Vegas for the first time since 2005 and Fresno State visits one week later in the league lid-lifter. It will mark the first time the Rebels and Bulldogs open conference play against each other since 1985 when both programs were members of the Big West Conference.
The Rebels then set out for three road trips in four weeks: at San Diego State on Oct. 8, at Hawai'i on Oct. 15, home vs. Colorado State on Oct. 22 and then at San José State on Oct. 29. Following the season's only bye week, Wyoming will come to Sam Boyd Stadium on Nov. 12. The final road game of 2016 will see the Rebels travel to Boise State for the first time since 2012 on Friday Nov. 18 in a matchup that will be shown by an ESPN channel to be announced.
The aforementioned annual in-state clash with the Wolf Pack will then close out the regular season two days after Thanksgiving (as it last did in 2014). Last year's Fremont Cannon game took place in October but the Mountain West agreed to both institutions' request to always make the game the finale, if at all possible, starting in 2016.
"It's great that we are opening the season at home," said UNLV head coach Tony Sanchez. "We have a lot to do but are fired up to get started on our second year."
UNLV opens spring practice on Monday at Rebel Park and the Spring Showcase is scheduled for Saturday, April 9 at the soccer stadium on campus.
New football season tickets are on sale now starting at only $79 for all six home games. Renewals are also available now. Log on to www.unlvtickets.com or call (702) 739-FANS for more information.
2016 UNLV FOOTBALL SCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT SITE Sept. 1 JACKSON STATE LAS VEGAS Sept. 10 at UCLA Pasadena, CASept. 17 at Central Michigan Mount Pleasant, MISept. 24 IDAHO LAS VEGASOct. 1 FRESNO STATE* LAS VEGAS Oct. 8 at San Diego State* San Diego, CA Oct. 15 at Hawai'i* Honolulu, HI Oct. 22 COLORADO STATE* LAS VEGAS Oct. 29 at San José State* San Jose, CANov. 5 BYENov. 12 WYOMING* LAS VEGASNov. 18 at Boise State* Boise, IDNov. 26 NEVADA, RENO* LAS VEGAS*Mountain West Game
