Nevada men’s basketball’s non-conference schedule is not only one of the largest in school history. It’s also the most expensive.
The Wolf Pack’s 14-game non-league schedule came at a price of $514,000. That non-conference schedule includes eight home games, one road game and five contests on neutral sites.
The cost of non-league home games drove Nevada’s 2026 schedule to new heights financially. Here is a breakdown of cost per game for the Wolf Pack’s exhibition and non-league schedule, with those contracts obtained by Nevada Sports Net via a public-records request.
$0 — Utah (exhibition); Portland State (exhibition); Loyola Marymount (home); Saint Mary’s (neutral); San Francisco (neutral); Santa Clara (neutral); UC Santa Barbara (road)
$4,000 — Cal Poly Humboldt (home)
$30,000 — Texas Legends Classic (participation fee for games against Colorado State and Loyola Chicago)
$75,000 — Utah Valley (home)
$80,000 — Robert Morris (home); Idaho (home); Pacific (home); Sam Houston (home)
$85,000 — South Dakota State (home)
That tallies to $514,000, the largest in school history, slightly edging last year’s total, which was around $480,000. In addition to the home and neutral-site games, Nevada will play at UC Santa Barbara, which is a return game from last year with no game fee. It will host Loyola Marymount in the first game of a home-and-home series with the Wolf Pack playing at the Lions next season. That series also doesn’t have a fee.
The Wolf Pack’s two games at the Acrisure Series — against San Francisco and Santa Clara — don’t have a fee, either. Nevada is paying $30,000 to play in the inaugural Texas Legends College Classic, with games against Colorado State and Loyola Chicago. The Wolf Pack will play Saint Mary’s at the Tahoe Blue Event Center, with no fee. Additionally, Nevada owes a road exhibition game at Portland State next season after hosting the Vikings in an exhibition last week.
The Wolf Pack will play 14 non-league games this season, up from 11 last year. The NCAA increased the maximum number of regular-season games from 31 to 32 this offseason, with the Mountain West schedule being cut from 20 games to 18 after its membership change — five schools left for the Pac-12 while the MW added Hawaii, UC Davis and UTEP.
Nevada will not play a Power 4 opponent during the non-league season for the first time since 2001-02, 26 seasons ago. The Wolf Pack will play two teams in non-league play who reached last year’s NCAA Tournament, both coming from the West Coast Conference (Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara, which both lost in the first round).
Nevada was picked to finish third out of 10 teams in the preseason Mountain West poll, with returners Elijah Price and Vaughn Weems named to the preseason all-conference team. The Wolf Pack won both of its exhibition games, topping Utah, 71-61, and Portland State, 77-71. Nevada opens the season against Robert Morris on Monday at 7 p.m. in a game that will air on Nevada Sports Net.