We’re back from vacation and back to delivering mail, this time of the Monday Mailbag variety. Thanks, as always, for the questions.

Here’s how I would rank Nevada’s transfer additions based on their projected impact on the 2025-26 season.

1. PF Elijah Price (Fresno State): I’d be shocked if Price is not All-Mountain West comes season’s ends. There are some concerns as he put up good numbers as a freshman last year (10.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg) but for a team that played at a fast pace that inflated numbers and never won (Fresno State was 6-26 with the nation’s No. 32 tempo). He also shot just 40.1/10.5/65.6. But he has the size, skills and motor to be All-MW. The question is whether he can be a No. 1 on a good MW team.

2. PG Tayshawn Comer (Evansville): Comer was second-team All-Missouri Valley last season and is projected as Nevada’s starting point guard as a primary ball-handler alongside Tyler Rolison. It will be interesting to see how those two fit together as ball-dominant 6-footers. But Comer is a proven Division I player who tallied 16.2 points, 4.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals last season. He just needs to be a lot more efficient (37.8 percent shooting in his career).

3. Joel Armotrading (UC Riverside): This one is based on positional need. Nevada only has one other center on its roster in Jeriah Coleman, so Armotrading should get plenty of playing time as long as the Wolf Pack uses a traditional lineup. He is a solid rebounder (6.5 boards per game last season) and shot blocker (40 last year) who can finish around the rim (5.8 ppg on 60.2 percent shooting). Nevada needs him to at least be a reliable big given the dearth of other options.

4. SF Corey Camper Jr. (UTEP): Camper is essentially this year’s version of Tré Coleman as a defensive-first wing who can chip in some offense (10.5 ppg last season). Camper could go up or down this list depending upon how well he shoots its from three (33.3 percent last season and 32.1 percent in his Division I career). But he plays strong enough defense he’s going to log a lot of minutes as a likely starter at small forward.

5. Kaleb Lowery (The Master’s University): Lowery was a three-time NAIA All-American, so we’ll see how his game translates to Division I. He’s big (6-8); scores and rebounds well (18.8 ppg and 10.4 rpg last year); is a good athlete; and is experienced (this is his sixth college season). He can also shoot (37.6 percent from three in his career) on a team that appears to lack shooting. It’s just hard to find a starting spot unless Nevada wants to play him at small forward.

6. SG Vaughn Weems (North Idaho College): Weems is making an even bigger jump to the MW after coming from the junior-college level where he averaged 26.7 points per game, the second most among JuCos in 2024-25. He was turnover prone (3.4 per game) but scored at all three levels, shooting 53.1 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from three and attempting 241 free throws (third most in the nation) while making 78.4 percent of those. He was added for offense, which he should provide.

All six of these guys have to contribute this season given the Wolf Pack returns just two players with legitimate Division I experience (Tyler Rolison, Chuck Bailey III). So, all six transfers have a shot of winning a role that includes 20-plus minutes per game.

Nevada has finished last in the Mountain West in each of the previous three seasons and gone 2-21 in league during that period, including two winless seasons in conference play. And it returns just four starters from last year’s team after losing its starting quarterback, top-two pass-catchers, top-four rushers, five of its top-six tacklers and all 11 of its interceptions. It should be picked to finish last in the MW. That doesn’t mean Nevada will finish last. I had the Wolf Pack’s ninth out of 12 teams on my preseason poll. But Nevada has not given voters any reason the last three seasons to expect more than what they’ve seen in recent years. I still believe Jeff Choate will turn Nevada into a bowl regular, but at this point having last-place expectations is fair from those who cover the league. As for the upside of the 2025 team, I’d go 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the MW. I guess I could see eight wins if everything breaks perfectly.

Nevada is getting a $1.45 million paycheck. That’s why the game is being played. Also, it’s cool for the players to play in a top-10 college football venue like Penn State’s Beaver Stadium. I’d prefer a game against a UCLA or Iowa or Northwestern or Minnesota, something that is somewhat winnable and still pays you $1 million-plus. But to get into that $1.5 million range, it’s going to be a body-bag game against a top-15 opponent. If Nevada gets out of the Penn State game healthy and with some positive plays, it’s a win.

The recently established Chris Ault Head Football Coach Endowment was named in honor of the former Nevada football coach and athletic director after his family and friends established an endowment in Ault’s name with the proceeds benefitting the salary of the active Wolf Pack head football coach. That endowment, announced at last week’s Governor’s Dinner, includes more than 20 people so far who have committed to donate more than $100,000 to establish the fund. Endowments generate roughly 9 percent in investments each year with 4.5 percent reinvested to grow the principal of the fund and the additional 4.5 percent distributed to support the cause it benefits. If the Chris Ault Endowment Fund starts at $100,000 in year one, that’d cover $4,500 of Jeff Choate’s salary this season with the principal growing to $104,500. It builds from there. This is essentially a fund to help pay for a portion of the Nevada football coach’s salary, which would relieve the athletic department from that financial burden. If you want to donate to that endowment, you can email the Wolf Pack Athletic Association at WolfPack@unr.edu.

Here are five storylines to look forward to in 2025-26:

1) Is there any on-court or in-press conference animosity between the departing schools and remaining schools?

2) Will the Mountain West put a team in the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive year?

3) Will the league place at least four schools in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for a fifth straight season?

4) How will Grand Canyon fare in its first season in the MW? Will it increase the league’s number of NCAA Tournament berths across all sports?

5) What is the financial value of the media-rights contracts signed by both conferences?

Here are Grand Canyon’s number of conference titles its last four seasons in the WAC:

2021-22: 11

2022-23: 7

2023-24: 12

2024-25: 7

That’s a lot of titles, although the MW is clearly better than the WAC. Grand Canyon sent five schools to the NCAA Tournament last season, which would have tied the MW for first place along with New Mexico. I’ll project an over/under of 4.5 MW titles for Grand Canyon in 2024-25. Grand Canyon’s strongest sports are softball and baseball; men’s and women’s basketball; men’s and women’s track and field; women’s tennis; volleyball; and women’s soccer. I’ll give the Antelopes one softball title; one baseball title; two track and field titles; and one women’s soccer title. That’s five total. I could see Grand Canyon bump the MW into a two-bid league in softball. It’s unlikely to add any additional bids beyond that — maybe volleyball or women’s tennis — but will help fortify what is already a strong men’s basketball league.

According to the betting line, the five biggest upsets in Nevada football history are:

1t. Beat Washington, 28-17, in 2003 as a 17-point underdog

1t. Beat San Diego State, 17-13, in 2019 as a 17-point underdog

3. Beat Fresno State, 38-35, in 2005 as a 16.5-point underdog

4. Beat Boise State, 34-31 (OT), in 2010 as a 14-point underdog

5. Beat BYU, 31-28, in 2014 as a 13.5-point underdog

I’d also include Nevada’s 2019 win over Purdue (was an 11-point underdog) and Nevada’s 0-0 tie with Cal’s 1923 Wonder Boys. That tie versus the Wonder Boys is probably the biggest upset in program history as Cal hadn’t lost a game since 1919 and was coming off at least a share of three straight national championships. It was in the middle of a 50-game winning streak that spanned six seasons. Cal allowed only seven points in 1923 while beating the Wolf Pack by a total of 191-26 in each of the three previous seasons. Cal entered that game 5-0 while Nevada was 1-3-1. Cal head coach Andy Smith didn’t even show up for the game while scouting Stanford with three of his star players.

While it wasn’t a win on the scoreboard, UNR president Walter E. Clark said in a post-game celebration: “This team won its game against the ‘Miracle’ team of the ‘Wonder’ coach. It can never be forgotten in the annals of the school. The names of the players will go down in the Hall of Fame.” It’d be like Nevada tying Georgia these days.

I published a full writeup here on Kobe Sanders and other players from the Mountain West at the NBA 2K26 Summer League, but here are Sanders’ stats in his five games — 6.6 points, 2.0 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 3.0 turnovers in 18.7 minutes per game. He shot 39.4 percent from the floor (13-of-33), 28.6 percent from three (4-of-14) and 75 percent from the free throw line (3-of-4). Not very efficient, but decent numbers. The Clippers, who signed Chris Paul today, are going all-in for a title, which means Sanders will spend basically the whole season in the G League unless something goes very wrong in Los Angeles. Sanders is a second-round pick on a win-now team with limited roster spots available, so he’ll get an adjustment season in the G League in his first year in the pros.

Here are Nevada men’s basketball’s reported games right now with last year’s KenPom rank next to each school:

Nov. 4: vs. Louisiana Tech — 127 KenPom

Nov. 8: vs. Pacific — 284 KenPom

Nov. 12: vs. Southern Illinois — 190 KenPom

Nov. 15: at Santa Clara — 59 KenPom

Nov. 18: vs. UC Davis — 250 KenPom

Nov. 27: vs. Washington at Acrisure Series — 104 KenPom

Nov. 28: vs. Colorado/San Francisco at Acrisure Series — 87/66 KenPom

Dec. 7: at Washington State — 120 KenPom

Dec. 13: vs. Duquesne — 140 KenPom

That leaves two remaining non-league games. If last year’s KenPom numbers hold (they won’t, of course), that’d be one Quad 1 game, two Quad 2s, three Quad 3s and three Quad 4s. It’d be really hard to build an at-large résumé with those numbers, so while I’d like to see two Quad 1 and/or 2 games with those last two slots, that seems unlikely. Nevada’s MTE this year (games with Washington as well as Colorado/USF) seems light. Nevada’s non-league résumé right now hinges on how good three good-but-not great WCC schools (Santa Clara, USF, Washington State) and two bad Big 10/Big 12 schools (Washington, Colorado) fare as the Huskies and Buffaloes both finished last in their league last season.

1) The Mountain West’s biggest news in the 2025 calendar year to date is the nasty battle with the Pac-12, which includes lawsuits, legal mediation and adding Grand Canyon against the departing five’s objection. On the field/court, the coolest accomplishment was New Mexico sweeping the 10,000-meter national titles in men’s and women’s outdoor track and field.

2) While there are 20 teams in various Acrisure Series tournaments, Nevada is part of a four-team bracket. So, it must beat Washington and then the winner of Colorado-San Francisco to win its bracket. I’d give that roughly 20 percent odds.

If you’re asking whether the Mountain West will have the league’s top projected teams play each other more often within conference to create more Quad 1 and 2 games, the answer is yes. I feel like the MW has always done that when it has an unbalanced schedule. You give the top-five teams just one game against two of the bottom-five teams to try and make things as fair as possible. With Nevada projected as a mid-tier team, that could help the Wolf Pack get a slightly more favorable league schedule.

A new Wolf Pack logo has been tossed around for decades. I remember doing a story on it while in college, and that was a long time ago. Nevada seems content with its primary logo even though the average fan seems lukewarm on the sport wolf. As for a uniform design competition, that’s a good engagement piece. That could be fun. But if you have to actually turn the winning design into a jersey for a real game, it could be a logistical issue in terms of time turnaround.

Jordan Brown and Marshaun Brown are projected starters along with Marcus Bellon for Nevada at wideout, so you could see the Brown Triplets on the field at the same time. I’ll put the over/under on snaps with all three on the field for an offensive play at 2.5 and take the under, but it could happen. And the most common last name for a college football player is probably “Johnson” or “Williams,” although Nevada has neither a Johnson nor a Williams on its roster as of today (prep signee Mason Johnson should be listed on the final 2025 roster, and Nevada does have coach Nico Johnson). The Wolf Pack does does have a “Smith,” “Thomas,” “Jones,” “Jackson” and “Wilson,” five additional popular names (it has two Thomases, in fact). I’d guess “Johnson” is the most popular surname for a college football player.

The Nevada Fieldhouse and Grand Sierra Resort Arena projects should both have official groundbreaking ceremonies in August/September of this year.

Separate talks spearheaded by the group that tried to get a soccer stadium built in south Reno at the South Valleys Regional Park complex. Nothing concrete at this point, but there are ongoing efforts on that front.

The Mountain West’s media-rights partners for football last year were CBS, Fox and Turner. The Athletic’s Chris Vannini reported from last week’s MW media days that CBS will remain a TV partner for the MW, which isn’t a huge shock. The bigger surprise would be if CBS is the main partner after becoming the new Pac-12’s anchor partner. I would guess Fox slips into the main partner role with CBS getting the second pick of games. More to your point, will the MW get a new partner? Options would include The CW, ESPN, NBC, Netflix, Prime, Apple, etc. I could see a new partner in a tertiary role with minimal financial lifting. But the majority of the games should remain on CBS and Fox. ESPN would be cool, but ESPN has not shown much interest in West Coast college athletics the last couple of years.

I’m only including players once for this list as Kyle Van Noy, for example, has had four signing bonuses in excess of $2 million.

1. Brandon Aiyuk, $23 million bonus with the 49ers in 2024

2. Colin Kapernick’s $12.3 million bonus with the 49ers in 2014

3. Joel Bitonio’s $10.5 million bonus with the Browns in 2021

4. Brandon Marshall’s $10 million bonus with Broncos in 2016

5. Austin Corbett’s $9.765 million bonus with Panthers in 2022

6. Kyle Van Noy’s $5.5 million bonus with the Dolphins in 2020

7. Lyle Overbay’s $3.8 million bonus with Blue Jays in 2007

8. Robby Snelling’s $3 million bonus with Marlins in 2022

9. Rishard Matthews’ $2.5 million bonus with the Titans in 2016

10. Braden Shipley’s $2.25 million bonus with the Diamondbacks in 2013

As far as I can tell, the local NBA players (JaVale McGee, Ramon Sessions, Martin twins) who signed big contracts didn’t get signing bonuses. Grayson Grinsell got a reported $297,500 signing bonus as a sixth-round draft pick, which is a touch more than Spanish Springs’ Jace Avina got as a 14th-round draft pick in 2021 (a $255,900 bonus). That shows you the leverage high school players have in the MLB draft compared to draft-eligible college juniors.

A tournament official said in the media room Sunday that the crowd was 102,000, which would best the tournament record set the year prior of 77,049. That seems like a huge jump from the previous high-water mark, especially considering the course seemed a little less crowded than usual. It was still packed, but it felt like there were fewer folks around the course. As for the fantasy golf contest, those numbers were not released.

The best results for the 2026 football season for those rooting against the Pac-12 would be Washington State and Oregon State being terrible and Texas State winning the conference championship with an undefeated season while Boise State finishes around .500. That would essentially show the Beavers and Cougars to be barely MW-level programs with a so-so Sun Belt team proving superior to the rest of the conference. I threw in Boise State going .500 just for Nevada fans.

Damian Lillard never should have left Portland. What a disaster that ended up being for the Milwaukee Bucks. What a deal, however, for Portland, which ended up getting DeAndre Ayton; Malcolm Brogdon; Robert Williams; three first-round draft picks; and two first-round swaps to lend Lillard to the Bucks for two years while then getting him back on a much more affordable deal moving forward. That’s a heist.

Of course.

That’s the staple office gift after a trip to Hawaii for sure, although we kept our box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts and instead got Hawaiian shortbread cookies in a pineapple tin as the gift item.

3. Vancouver

2. Switzerland (Bernese Oberland region)

1. Hawaii (Maui if I must pick one island)

Honorable mentions to Paris, Cinque Terre and Barcelona.

Man on Mars (most likely Matt Damon).

While the Wolf Pack recently shook up its Hall of Fame selection committee, I believe Fred Gatlin’s time has come and gone as a legitimate candidate. It’s pretty odd Gatlin didn’t get in given his résumé, which includes being Nevada’s two-time offensive MVP; the 1989 Big Sky Newcomer of the Year; a member of three conference-title teams; a 33-8 record as a starter (best in school history with at least 20 starts); the starting quarterback of Nevada’s only team to reach Division I-AA title game (1990); one of two Wolf Pack quarterbacks with three career wins over rival UNLV (Colin Kaepernick is the other); and ranking second in total offense (8,568), passing yards (8,312) and passing touchdowns (63 TDs) upon his graduation.

I don’t see how he’s not a Hall of Famer given some of the other recent additions in the Wolf Pack’s classes. But we’re going to put Matt Freaking Damon on Mars before Gatlin gets that Wolf Pack Hall of Fame honor.

See y’all next week!

Sports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. He writes a weekly Monday Mailbag despite it giving him a headache and it taking several hours to write. But people seem to like it, so he does it anyway. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.