UNLV would not be “structurally” tied to Nevada in the event the Pac-12 offers membership to the Rebels during the second wave of its expansion phase, according to a member of the Nevada Board of Regents whose comments contradict the public sentiment following a major shakeup in college sports on the West Coast.
Immediately after the announcement last week that four Mountain West schools would join the Pac-12 starting in the summer of 2026, speculation surfaced that UNLV would have a difficult time leaving behind its sister campus in Reno.
One member of the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Board of Regents went so far as to say it would be “very difficult” for the campuses to separate if the Pac-12 comes calling for the Rebels.
But Heather Brown, who was elected to the board in Nov. 2022 and represents District 6, told the Hotline on Tuesday that UNLV and Nevada would not be an all-or-nothing deal.
“If (UNLV) were approached by a conference and it makes sense,” Brown said, “my understanding is they would have to get board approval. But there’s nothing we would have to untether. There is no package. Nobody talks about them as a package … There is nothing structurally that ties them together.”
A source who has spent decades working with officials in the Nevada System of Higher Education said there has “never been a discussion about them being in the same league” and that several regents were dumbfounded by the narrative that the Rebels would be held back by Nevada.
The Las Vegas and Reno campuses have spent most of their athletic histories in different conferences, with a recent 12-year overlap in the Mountain West. (UNLV was a founding member of the conference in 1999; Nevada joined in 2012.)
Comments by regent Byron Brooks added to the belief that separating the two campuses would be tricky for the Pac-12.
“It would be very difficult for UNLV to make a move into another conference without UNR because that should be a package deal,” Brooks told the Las Vegas Review Journal last week following the Pac-12’s decision to add Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State.
“And then the financial obligations that these campuses have in moving from one conference to another … I’m not sure that UNLV and UNR are in a place to spend that kind of money to move into another conference.”
But Brown, who grew up in Las Vegas and attended UNLV, took exception to Brooks’ position.
“One of the regents was quoted publicly,” she said. “He lacked an understanding of the historical context. They have only spent 12 years in the same conference.”
She believes Pac-12 expansion could provide the Las Vegas and Reno campuses “the opportunity to go down the path that makes the most sense for their futures. They serve different communities and should act accordingly.”
The Pac-12 isn’t finished expanding — at least two more schools must be added by the summer of 2026 to remain in compliance with NCAA rules.
Washington State, Oregon State, Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould and the four new members are considering an array of options, including schools in the American Athletic Conference (Memphis, Tulane and UTSA) and other members of the Mountain West.
Nor have they ruled out schools that don’t play football, like Gonzaga.
The intra-state political situation in Nevada wasn’t the only reason the Pac-12 declined to offer UNLV an invitation during its first expansion wave. But the conference chose to act with “an abundance of caution” with regard to the Rebels, according to an industry source, in part to a messy situation similar to what happened in California.
When UCLA announced its departure to the Big Ten in the summer of 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom voiced his disapproval of the secretive process. The University of California Board of Regents then spent five months debating whether the Bruins should be allowed to leave Cal behind.
Eventually, the regents let UCLA make the move but required the Bruins to make a $10 million annual “contribution” to Cal for at least three years.
However, there are several critical differences in the state education systems:
— Newsom sits on the UC board as an Ex Officio member and appoints the regents himself. The governor of Nevada does not serve on the board or appoint the regents; they are independently elected.
— Nevada’s Board of Regents is “nestled into the state constitution,” Brown explained, which effectively makes the board a fourth branch of government independent of the governor.
Asked if Gov. Joe Lombardo, who attended UNLV, would attempt to block the Rebels from leaving Nevada behind, Brown said: “I don’t think he would, and I don’t think he could. Not even the attorney general has authority over the board.”
Lombardo’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Brown is not ready to support a move to the Pac-12 if the invitation arrives in the upcoming weeks.
The financial component is critical because UNLV has no means of paying a buyout that could approach $30 million when all the penalties are assessed, Brown said.
And she would want to weigh the move against UNLV’s options.
But if joining the Pac-12 makes sense in all respects, including the financial component, Brown said, “I think the board would support it.”
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