Nevada Sports Net columnist Chris Murray is known to be a bit wordy, so we’re giving him 1,000 words (but no more than that) every Friday to share his thoughts from the week that was in the world of sports.

* FAR BE IT from me to give other people more work, but I’d like to assign Nevada softball coach Victoria Hayward the role of “Wolf Pack Scheduling Czar.” I’m sure Hayward is plenty busy running her program. But she’s also proven to be a good multi-tasker as an active professional athlete and full-time college coach over the years. Now that she’s retired from playing, Hayward might have some more free time. And given the schedule she just put together for Nevada softball, I’d like her to handle the schedules for the rest of the Wolf Pack teams, too.

* NEVADA SOFTBALL released its schedule last week and will play 12 games against nine Power 4 teams and face 10 opponents who played in last year’s NCAA Tournament, including two — UCLA and Oregon — who played in the Women’s College World Series. The Wolf Pack also has games against LSU, Arizona State, Arizona, NC State, Cal, Illinois and Indiana. Throw in 25 Mountain West games — the conference was sixth out of 31 Division I conferences in RPI last season and added Top 25 Grand Canyon this offseason — and Nevada should face a top-30 national strength of schedule in 2026.

* THE WOLF PACK went 41-14 overall and 18-4 in the MW last season. It finished 34th in the RPI. And it still didn’t get into the NCAA Tournament, being the second team left out of the field. Building her first full schedule as a head coach, Hayward clearly didn’t want that to be the case again this season. The Olympic medalist faced some of the world’s best in her playing career and has brought that no-fear mentality to the Wolf Pack’s schedule this season. I love to see it. Too often Nevada’s coaches have been comfortable with so-so schedules hoping to hit the win total required for job security. Nevada softball didn’t do that.

* OF COURSE, not every Nevada program should put together a top-30 schedule. You need to set your roster up for success. But Wolf Pack softball could have taken the easy route and went soft after losing MW player of the year Aaliyah Jenkins to graduation and all-region standout Haley Painter to Purdue. Hayward didn’t do that. She put together a schedule that if Nevada hits the 35-win mark this season should net it a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. She challenged her team to heights not see with many, if any, Wolf Pack schedules in any sport.

* NEVADA SHOULD BE able to navigate the schedule with some success. Yes, there are questions about the team’s power production without Jenkins and Painter, who combined for 32 of the team’s 61 homers in 2025. But there’s a solid returning position-player group, good team speed and two of the nation’s top freshmen in Anna Braukus and Katie Wetteland. And where Nevada should really shine is in the circle with four potential frontline starters.

* ELITE SOFTBALL TEAMS begin with their rotation, and Nevada returns two All-MW pitchers (Hailey McLean, Tess Bumiller), a big-time Power 4 transfer (Iowa’s Talia Tretton by way of Douglas High) and a promising youngster (Ainsley Berlingeri, who posted a 2.83 ERA as a freshman last year). Nevada was able to schedule a loaded non-league schedule because its has that kind of pitching depth. Most mid-major teams would have to ride their ace hard in non-league play to combat this kind of schedule, which could leave that pitcher compromised for league play. Nevada has enough frontline pitching depth to put together a schedule this strong.

* WHO KNOWS how it will work out. Nevada could have overscheduled and could have its confidence impacted by playing such a rigorous slate of games. That’s the downside. But it’s worth the risk. What would be far worse would be winning 40-plus games again and just missing the NCAA Tournament because you didn’t schedule hard enough. Nevada is testing itself and should be rewarded on Selection Sunday if it takes care of business. It has given itself plenty of opportunities to play big games this season. Now, the Wolf Pack must win some of those games, but you have to salute the no-fear attitude.

* NEVADA FOOTBALL is deep in transfer-portal season, and things are going pretty well for the program that’s in dire need of a winning season. The Wolf Pack has lost some key players, of course, but also retained offensive linemen Jack Foster and Zach Cochnauer, who both entered the transfer portal and had Power 4 opportunities. They also kept first-team All-MW defensive end Dylan LaBarbera. Those were huge retentions. You know it’s a new era when a team loses two players to Oregon (P Bailey Ettridge, K Keaton Emmett), one to Ole Miss (DE Jonathan Maldonado) and one to Texas Tech (TE Jett Carpenter) and can still be happy with how the offseason is going. But there have been some portal wins, too.

* THE NFL PLAYOFFS start this week, and I’m excited to see how my Buffalo Bills disappoint me this year. This feels like the most wide-open NFL playoffs in at least a decade. And with things being wide open, I’m picking the Seattle Seahawks over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Super Bowl LX. Yes, Sam Darnold over Trevor Lawrence. I told you it was wide open!

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.