Nevada football accepts bowl invitation

RENO — For the 10th time in the last 11 seasons, the Nevada football team is headed to a bowl game. Nevada accepted an invitation on Sunday to play in the inaugural NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl in Tucson on Dec. 29.

The game will kick-off at 4:30 p.m. PST at Arizona Stadium, and the Wolf Pack will take on Colorado State.

The game will be broadcast digitally on Campus Insiders and will also be carried on television on the American Sports Network.

“Our program is genuinely excited to accept an invitation to the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl,” said head coach Brian Polian, who has now guided Nevada to a bowl in consecutive seasons. “We’re really excited to continue this season together and I’m personally excited to spend a couple more weeks with this team. We’re looking forward to another chance to compete and to try and finish the 2015 season with a winning record.”

While both schools are members of the Mountain West, Nevada (6-6, 4-4 MW) is in the West division and the Rams (7-5, 5-3 MW) are in the Mountain division. The teams both tied for second in their respective divisions, and they did not play each other in the regular season.

Nevada and Colorado State have met 13 times in their history and the Rams hold an 11-2 advantage in the series. Nevada’s two wins have come in the last five meetings – a 51-6 win in Fort Collins in 2010 and a 28-10 win at Mackay in 2006.

Nevada is making its 15th bowl appearance in program history, its 10th bowl trip in the past 11 years and the second under third-year head coach Brian Polian.

There are only 18 other teams in the nation who can claim 10 bowl games in the last 11 years and just three of those are from non-Power 5 conferences in Boise State, BYU and Navy. The other 15 are Virginia Tech, Clemson, Florida State, Rutgers, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Alabama, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU and Oregon.

Campus Insiders is the Mountain West’s digital partner and the game will be streamed online and on mobile devices. The American Sports Network is the sport division of the Sinclair Broadcast Group and is available in markets throughout the country.

In Nevada, the game will be carried on KAME on Northern Nevada and on KVCW in Las Vegas. It will be available in Northern California on KTXL. A complete television distribution map will be available leading up to the game.

Tickets for the bowl game from the Wolf Pack’s allotment will be available on Monday at 10 a.m. from the Lawlor Events Center ticket office or by calling 775-348-PACK. Tickets will also be available from NevadaWolfPack.com. Purchasing through the Wolf Pack ticket office ensures seats in the Wolf Pack section and helps the Wolf Pack reach their ticket obligation.