UNLV on path to Power 5?

[Innermind]

Oakland Raiders move to Las Vegas approved by owners

With the NFL owners vote yesterday officially approving the Raiders move to Las Vegas along with a fancy new NFL stadium which will be shared with UNLV football, combined with the upcoming state-of-the-art Rebels football facility, UNLV president Len Jessup states:

“We’ve long been on a path to being a top-tier university. This university is on the path to a Power Five (conference).”​

UNLV Statements On Raiders' Move To Las Vegas


The upcoming UNLV football facility:
UNLV announces Fertitta family will donate $10M toward football facility

Will UNLV soon become P5 material? Will they eventually become attractive to either the PAC or Big XII?

Well... in order to become P5 worthy, I believe UNLV has work to do academically. Currently, the annual Forbes academic rankings has UNLV as #523
America's Top Colleges

Compare that #523 spot with some of the other academically lower ranked (below 300) schools in the P5:
#306 Kentucky
#308 Mississippi
#326 Oklahoma State
#328 Oregon State
#348 Kansas State
#365 Mississippi State
#371 Washington State
#380 Texas Tech
Yikes, these next two are lower than 400
#412 West Virginia
#494 Louisville


Also, compare that with some of the academically lower ranked (below 300) schools in the Group of 5 that have also been mentioned as possible Power 5 candidates over the years:
#342 Houston
#362 Hawaii
#368 New Mexico
#364 Temple
#375 Cincinnati
#388 South Florida
#397 Central Florida
Yikes, these next two are even lower than West Virginia and Louisville
#588 Memphis
#612 Boise State


I have only found three non power 5 schools with athletic programs possibly on the verge of being considered P5 quality which also boast large student enrollments (over 25,000) and also place over 300 on the Forbes academic rankings list:
#86 BYU
#147 UConn
#297 Colorado State

Those above three schools, IMO, should already be members of the P5... again, they boast very good academics, as well as large student enrollments over 25,000 (and thus, large alumni bases), and have athletic programs very close to being P5 worthy.... heck, this Fall Colorado State is opening a brand new shiny on-campus stadium for the 2017 season!

 

[Jekku]

I don't see it in the near future.

 

[Boise4Life]

I don't see it in the near future.

I would agree. If you look at a city like San Diego which is much bigger and San Diego State has way better support from their fans than UNLV does and they still can't get 30,000 into Qualcomm. It will likely be less for UNLV. Plus it's just a bad program, especially for football.

 

[Duckboy33]

I think the PAC would be interested if they got things rolling but we're a far ways away from that happening. I'm not worried about the academic angle. However, they have virtually no fan support in football and have a horrible program. Maybe the stadium helps but they're going to have to prove it first. And their decline in hoops is only making it less likely for them to get invited to the PAC.

 

[Lance Armstrong]

Well they have 3 years to get the football program on track before that stadium is built, I could easily see them as a target.

 

[Boise4Life]

Sounds like they're going to dump $1.9B into a 65,000 seat stadium and host the Super Bowl there in year one. At one point a while back a jumbotron the length of the football field was also being discussed.

Now they're going to open a Raiders themed brothel as well, the Pirate's Booty. 50% off for all Raider players. It's the owner of the Bunny Ranch. He said something along the lines of, "This will be my seventh brothel. I've had the license for this one for quite awhile now, but I was waiting for the perfect time to launch another house of debauchery."

 

[RP-29]

You don't really think academics has anything to do with acceptance into a P5 nowadays, do you?

Spoiler

 

[Cave_Johnson]

You don't really think academics has anything to do with acceptance into a P5 nowadays, do you?

Spoiler

Depends on the conference. Pac 12? Yeah, it's a factor. Big 12? Not so much.

 

[USCDoom]

Is this a Joke?

I have always said if the Pac adds another Mid Major, it would be Colorado State or New Mexico, but even they are so far down the list in Academics it would make no sense... But UNLV??!?!?!?!?!

The last time they won more than 7 games was in 1984.... And they only won 7 games twice since then......

 

[Wamu]

But UNLV??!?!?!?!?!

The last time they won more than 7 games was in 1984.... And they only won 7 games twice since then......

'84, are you sure? In '13 they went 7-6. In 2000 they went 8-5. In '94 they went 7-5. And in '84 they went 11-2. Not saying they have a good program but to say they haven't won 7 games in a season since '84 is incorrect.

 

[Duckboy33]

Is this a Joke?

I have always said if the Pac adds another Mid Major, it would be Colorado State or New Mexico, but even they are so far down the list in Academics it would make no sense... But UNLV??!?!?!?!?!

The last time they won more than 7 games was in 1984.... And they only won 7 games twice since then......

New Mexico and CSU don't bring enough to the conference. UNLV has potential because of their market. They are a LONG ways away from an offer but UNLV would get a look before UNM or CSU.

 

[tnapucco]

#612 Boise State

In their defense, growing taters is fucking easy.

 

[HuskerinBig10]

I go to Las Vegas quite a bit, I am heading there in May, I was there in January.

No one in Las Vegas cares about UNLV.

it seems to be a San Francisco 49ers and Golden State Warriors city, or whichever team is winning. Bunch of bandwagonners.

Which makes sense, no one likes losing money in Las Vegas, why cheer on a loser?

 

[tnapucco]

I go to Las Vegas quite a bit, I am heading there in May, I was there in January.

No one in Las Vegas cares about UNLV.

it seems to be a San Francisco 49ers and Golden State Warriors city, or whichever team is winning. Bunch of bandwagonners.

Which makes sense, no one likes losing money in Las Vegas, why cheer on a loser?

Lots of locals went to UNLV. Most locals don't care about "the strip", other than it's where they work.

 

[USCDoom]

New Mexico and CSU don't bring enough to the conference. UNLV has potential because of their market. They are a LONG ways away from an offer but UNLV would get a look before UNM or CSU.

So TV Market is Greater than Academics and Athletics for the Pac?

And since when is Las Vegas a greater TV Market than Albuquerque?

New Mexico and Colorado State are MUCH, MUCH better in every School related Comparison. And even If UNLV has a better TV market, it is Barely Noticeable.......

 

[wazzu31]

The Pac 12 Will have their title game in the New stadium without UNLV. If we won't take Noise State or San Diego State we sure as he'll won't take a school that offers nothing to the conference. We can play in the city without them....although Vegas is a better fit than Utah or Colorado in our conference.

 

[tnapucco]

The Pac 12 Will have their title game in the New stadium without UNLV. If we won't take Noise State or San Diego State we sure as he'll won't take a school that offers nothing to the conference. We can play in the city without them....although Vegas is a better fit than Utah or Colorado in our conference.

We'll take Colorado back, but only if they sell edibles during their games.

 

[Demonjoe93]

I doubt it.

 

[4down20]

 

[mcnabb7542]

New Mexico and CSU don't bring enough to the conference. UNLV has potential because of their market. They are a LONG ways away from an offer but UNLV would get a look before UNM or CSU.

Long is an understatement. Athletic department is a mess, the basketball program ( which has been the best part of UNLV) has lacked in the last decade. They have a former high school coach leading the football program now. Las Vegas produces some very good home grown talent, but they leave there for Pac 12 schools, so they have a lot of work to do to move to P5 level