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Is it available on direct TV. I'm looking at my channel guide and don't see it.

UNLV reportedly will hire as its football head coach Tony Sanchez, head coach at wildly-successful Bishop Gorman High of Las Vegas. That Gorman program is very collegiate, drawing athletes from all over its area, with excellent facilities and even a few choices for game-night uniforms a la Oregon and others. �• UNLV probably knows about this: Todd Dodge, who was hired by the University of North Texas after coaching Southlake Carroll High to four Texas state championships, was 6-37 at North Texas. read more: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/shower-644749-game-rivers.html

Bobby Haucks new three-year contract will pay him an annual salary of $850,000, an increase of $350,000 per year over his old deal. The annual salary increases are as follows: base salary from $150,000 to $250,000, media appearance fee from $150,000 to $225,000 and public appearance fee from $50,000 to $225,000. Read more: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2014/jan/16/new-contract-pay-bobby-hauck-850000-year/

Interesting that the team we played in the bowl can not participate in a bowl this coming year. Also -- we ought to keep an eye on their roster for Texas players looking to get home as they can transfer without waiting out a season. There's at least a couple who I wouldn't mind see wearing green this year. http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis-dodd/24536786/unlvs-bowl-ban-exposes-hypocrisy-of-apr-as-deterrent-for-big-schools

Kudos to Greenminer for posting this. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/unlv/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2013-14/postgame_notes/postgame_notes_20140102aaa.pdf

DALLAS (AP) — Derek Thompson and Brelan Chancellor were among the seniors who wanted North Texas' first bowl game in nine years to be close to family and friends. They made a lot of green-clad fans very happy. Thompson threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns, Chancellor scored twice and the Mean Green dominated the second half of a 36-14 victory over UNLV in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Wednesday. North Texas (9-4) pulled away from a 7-7 halftime tie for its first bowl win since New Orleans in 2002. The school's third postseason victory came in front of a strong turnout of 38,380 on a sunny day at the Cotton Bowl, just 45 miles from the Denton campus. "It was so exciting running on the field and seeing a sea of green," said Thompson, who was 21 of 30 without an interception and voted the game's MVP. "We love our fans." UNLV (7-6) drove 95 yards for a touchdown on its opening possession but didn't score again until the Mean Green were up 28-7 in the fourth quarter. - See more at: http://www.thealpenanews.com/page/content.detail/id/433507/North-Texas-tops-UNLV-36-14-in-Heart-of-Dallas.html?isap=1&nav=5017#sthash.8P2PyDz0.dpuf

It's game week! One last hoo-rah at this for the 2013 season. Can we go out with a bang? If this thread can be correctly derailed, a Mean Green victory is guaranteed. UNLV Roster

A voice in the lobby bellowed, “Welcome to paradise!” and while the Hyatt Regency Dallas may not be the destination that phrase brings to mind for most people, it feels that way to the UNLV football team. Most of the players arrived Saturday to their home away from home for Wednesday’s Heart of Dallas Bowl against North Texas at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Considering how important UNLV’s first bowl game since 2000 is to the players participating, they probably could have showed up at the Bates Motel feeling cheery. “I’m excited to see what they have us doing,” offensive lineman Brett Boyko said of the bowl events this week. UNLV and UNT both practiced Saturday afternoon and then met for a reception and their visit to the gift suite in the evening. Other events scheduled include a charity event, a kids’ camp and a trip to Sunday’s Dallas Stars hockey game. Read more: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/dec/29/rebels-assemble-dallas-fun-filled-bowl-week/

The best season UNLV’s seen in 13 years had plenty of moments worth talking about. Here are eight of the most notable — not necessarily because they were the most glamorous, but because together they paint a picture of a team that fought its way to the finish line against the odds. 1. One play to rule them all When quarterback Caleb Herring talked to RJ reporter Mark Anderson late last month, Herring said there was one play this season that made all the difference in the world: A 50-yard pass from Herring to Devante Davis that changed the momentum of what was looking to be a blowout loss to Central Michigan. That pass set up a touchdown just before halftime that changed not only the outcome of that game — which ended in a 31-21 UNLV victory — but of the season, too. The game gave UNLV the push it needed to have a successful season and is widely viewed as the game that saved Coach Bobby Hauck’s job. 2. Kohorst’s game-winning field goal The Rebels were down 36-37 against Hawaii in October when things started to look up at the end of the fourth quarter. With five seconds left on the clock, the Rebels found themselves in field goal range and sent senior placekicker Nolan Kohorst onto the field. Kohorst kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give the Rebels a 39-37 win. The victory marked the first time UNLV had won four games in a row since 2000. 3. Fremont Cannon comes home When the Rebels won the Battle for Nevada in October by beating UNR 27-22, they got to bring the Fremont Cannon back to Las Vegas for the first time since 2004. That’s almost as long as it had been since UNLV was last bowl eligible. The annual Battle for Nevada was first played in 1969. The cannon, painted with the winner’s colors, was built in 1970 and is a replica of the cannon that accompanied John C. Fremont on his 19th-century expedition across Nevada. This year’s UNLV victory also broke the series’ longest win streak: Nevada had won the annual matchup for eight years straight. Read more: http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/8-unlv-s-best-moments-football-season

By Drew Harris, www.heartofdallasbowl.com No player on the UNLV football team personifies the gritty 2013 Rebels better than senior quarterback Caleb Herring. “He’s a classic example of guys who persevere and are persistent,” head coach Bobby Hauck said. “It seems like we are in a day and age where when kids see the first sign of adversity, they bail or try to find an easier path. He didn’t do that. He stuck with it.” Herring, who was the starting signal caller as a sophomore before losing the grasp on the job in 2012, lost a hard-fought battle for the starter’s job again this year. But after the squad began the season 0-2 and trailed 14-0 in the early going against Central Michigan, a change was made that altered the course of the Rebels’ season. Following another CMU score, Herring led the Rebels to 31 unanswered points in a 31-21 win, orchestrating the largest comeback in school history. The native of Moreno Valley, Calif., threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns in three quarters and set an all-time school record for completion percentage in a game (24-for-28, .857). Including that contest, the Rebels won seven of their final 10, scoring 33.9 points per game and earning UNLV its first bowl berth since 2000. The Rebels, which scored 23 and 13 points in its first two games without Herring, totaled at least 24 points in all but one of the final 10 outings. “My mindset was to be ready whenever the team needed help,” Herring said. He was more than ready. For the year, he completed 234 of 364 passes (64.3 percent) with 22 touchdowns and just four interceptions. A consummate team player, Herring even played wide receiver last year, starting four times while still taking reps as the No. 2 quarterback. The 2013 media guide even lists Herring’s position as QB/WR. “He competed hard for the (quarterback) position and when he got his chance he was really, really good,” Hauck said. “He’s a guy that shows what can happen when you keep working. He played very consistently and has been invaluable to his team.” Junior wide receiver Devante Davis, who reaped the benefits of having Herring under center, put it simply when asked about Herring. “Great guy, great teammate, great quarterback,” he said. “I try to make every play for him.” “He works harder than people even know,” Davis continued. “He never had a bad face (when not starting). He could tell you every play that happened in the game, and on the sideline, he’d be coaching you.” Herring split a pair of top awards at the UNLV postseason banquet, claiming Co-Offensive Player of the Year honors while also sharing the Bill "Wildcat" Morris Most Inspirational Award. “I was so happy for him,” Davis said. “We knew what he could do.” While it was an important season for him individually, Herring prefers to think about it in the context of the team. “It’s definitely been a big year for us,” Herring said. “We wanted to leave a mark as outgoing seniors.” Drew Harris (drew@firstpitchpr.com) is the founder of First Pitch Public Relations, a sports-focused media relations company in Fort Worth. He has 15 years of experience in the sports communications industry with UW-Green Bay, TCU, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals. His current clients include: ESPN Events, UT Arlington Athletics, The Ben Hogan Award and the Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate.

This is a dated article, but I had remembered Saldi from recruiting years past due to the fact he was from the same school as Todd Dodge Southlake...He is the son of former Dallas Cowboy Jay Saldi. Evidently he committed to UNLV for football and suffered a head injury while skateboarding in the offseason and suffered major head trauma. Some of the UNLV fans were trying to make sure he got tickets to the Heart of Dallas Bowl which I thought was very cool. It sounds like UNLV keeps his locker room in place for him. Very classy of their fans. The good news is he seems to be making progress in his recovery. Former UNLV player Bryce Saldi Update Link Bryce Saldi UNLV Bio

It may not be a Quarterback U, but UNLV has churned out some players whose names became recognizable to fans around the country. Here are our top 10: 1. Randall Cunningham Cunningham, who played quarterback at UNLV 1981-1984, holds several UNLV records, including career passing with 8,020 yards, career touchdowns with 59, and all-time punting average at 45.6 yards. Cunningham was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles 37th overall in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft and remained with the team through the 1995 season, when he took a job as an analyst for TNT. In 1996, Cunningham returned to football, going on to play for the Minnesota Vikings, the Dallas Cowboys and the Baltimore Ravens before returning to the Eagles to retire in 2002. In 1988, Cunningham became the first black quarterback ever elected a starter in the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. 2. Ickey Woods Woods was a pretty nondescript player until his senior year at UNLV, in 1987, when he ran for 1,658 yards, scored 10 touchdowns, averaged 6.4 yards per carry and had nine 100-yard games. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals as the 31st overall pick in the second round of the 1988 NFL Draft. The running back is perhaps best remembered, though, for the Ickey shuffle, the end zone dance he performed when he scored a touchdown that made him an NFL fan favorite. The dance even scored Woods some TV commercials. Woods played for the Bengals until 1991, when a knee injury ended his football career. Read more: http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/10-well-known-players-come-out-unlv

Editors note: During our 10 days of UNLV football, well run a UNLV list a day leading up to the Heart of Dallas Bowl on New Years Day. It was an unusually good season to be a UNLV football fan. Die-hard fans are seeing their loyalty pay off, as UNLV is bowl eligible this season for the first time in a decade. Those who havent made it to Sam Boyd Stadium in a few games or years may need some convincing to hop back on the Rebel train. Heres our list of nine reasons to be a UNLV football fan: 1. Free Cane's if we return a kickoff Who doesnt love free food? If a Rebel player returns a kickoff for a touchdown, anyone with a game ticket gets free chicken fingers and french fries at Raising Canes. Talk about a good deal. 2. Tailgating at Sam Boyd Stadium is a great experience We may not be the south, but Las Vegas knows how to throw a party especially since UNLV relaxed the tailgating rules early this season. Yelp reviews say even if the game is a disappointment, the tailgating makes it worth it. Read more: http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/9-reasons-be-unlv-football-fan

What happened in Vegas this year didn’t stay in Vegas. And that’s a good thing for head coach Bobby Hauck and his 2013 UNLV football team. When Hauck took over the UNLV football program four years ago, he knew the challenges facing him. “We knew it was going to be a big job to turn it around,” Hauck said. “There have been a lot of really, really fine coaches go through here and no one’s had much success.” The program had been to just three bowl games in school history, and hadn’t played one outside of Las Vegas since 1984. Furthermore, UNLV managed just three winning seasons in a quarter century, from 1987 to 2012, with the most recent coming in 2000. And despite having players such as Randall Cunningham, Ickey Woods and Keenan McCardell go on to successful NFL careers, UNLV was unable to turn Sin City into Win City on the gridiron. Instead, the university has been much more readily identified with its basketball program. The Runnin’ Rebels gained national fame under Jerry Tarkanian, winning the NCAA title in 1990 in the first of two straight Final Four appearances. That program continues to rank as one of the nation’s most storied in college hoops. “The four letters are recognizable, but not for the football program,” Hauck said. “We want to build it into a football school as well.” This year, Hauck and his crew have started to get noticed thanks to a 7-5 record that included two consecutive impressive wins to end the season. ESPN Events, which operates the Heart of Dallas Bowl presented by PlainsCapital Bank, was among those who saw the growth, and extended an invitation for the Rebels, over several other bowl eligible teams, to face another program on the rise: North Texas. “We’re excited. It’s a big deal for us,” Hauck said. “Our guys have had to overcome some things at UNLV in order to get to where they are. As you build a program, one of the major milestones is getting to a bowl game, and that’s what we’ve done. It’s been a fun season.” Hauck knows how to win. To take the UNLV job, he left a juggernaut Football Championship Subdivision program in Montana, where he had fashioned a Big Sky Conference all-time best 80-17 (.825) record from 2003-09. The Grizzlies also reached three FCS championship games (2004, 2008 and 2009) during his tenure. Now he is changing the culture at UNLV. This year, the Rebels won three road games, which was as many as the squad had won over the previous eight years combined. “He came in a tackled a tough task,” quarterback Caleb Herring said. “He took some lumps early, but he stuck to his plan. How we are turning it around is just a reflection of his leadership.” “We’re moving forward,” Hauck said. “We’re evolving as a program. We started from below ground, basically, and built a foundation. And now we are seeing the rewards for that.” And the first of what UNLV faithful hope will be many rewards to come will be this national television appearance on New Year’s Day 2014 in the historic Cotton Bowl. Drew Harris (drew@firstpitchpr.com) is the founder of First Pitch Public Relations, a sports-focused media relations company in Fort Worth. He has 15 years of experience in the sports communications industry with UW-Green Bay, TCU, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals. His current clients include: ESPN Events, UT Arlington Athletics, The Ben Hogan Award and the Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate. UNLV's INTERACTIVE ONLINE GUIDE - IMG College and UNLV Athletics launched the first-ever interactive, online bowl guide for Rebel fans as the team prepares for its New Year's Day appearance in the Heart of Dallas Bowl presented by PlainsCapital Bank. With head coach Bobby Hauck holding his final 2013 practice in the city of Las Vegas, the team has was released Monday for a holiday break before reconvening in Texas on Saturday. The 24-page guide, which includes click-on videos and game reviews, is available online at UNLV's Gameday Central or at following link: http://www.unlvdallasbowlguide.com/.

This is from a Cory McCartney article on FOX sports... 24. UNLV remains perfect in bowl games, with QB Caleb Herring (25 TDs) sinking North Texas in the Heart of Dallas. The Rebels haven't been to a bowl since '00 and are in their fourth since 1984, but are 3-0 all-time. The complete article: http://msn.foxsports.com/south/story/35-bold-predictions-for-college-football-s-bowl-season-121913 He's definitely made some bold claims like Duke topping the Aggies (even though Manziel will go off) and Rice getting to 11 wins by beating MSU. I'm not reading too much into into this article, since he seems to be picking upsets for the sake of writing this article. Let's prove his ass wrong. GO MEAN GREEN!!!

North Texas is happy with the early response its seeing from fans who are buying tickets for the teams New Years Day showdown with the UNLV football team in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Just like UNLV, the Mean Green are offering discounted student tickets, and the response has been good. "We had some students camped out", UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal told the Denton Record-Chronicle. "It was a really neat thing to watch." Villarreal said that near the end of the first week the university had sold more than 1,200 student tickets. The Mean Green are selling their regular tickets for $75 and student tickets for $25, with boosters already donating nearly $40,000 toward offsetting the student discount. UNLV is doing something similar with its tickets also going for $75 and student tickets discounted to $20. UNLV Athletic Director Tina Kunzer-Murphy said last Wednesday the department had brought in around $22,000 in ticket money, including some donors contributing extra for the student discount. Kunzer-Murphy was in Phoenix last weekend for Mountain West meetings and expects to have some updated UNLV ticket numbers available on Monday. No matter how well they do, the Rebels are almost guaranteed to come up short of what UNT is able to sell. The Mean Green campus is about a 45-minute drive away from Cotton Bowl Stadium. Read more: http://lvsun.com/news/2013/dec/16/unlv-football-awards/

Neal Smatresk, the president of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, was officially tapped Thursday to be the next president of the University of North Texas. He will assume the position Feb. 3. The Board of Regents voted unanimously to name Smatresk as the new president during a teleconference meeting Thursday morning. The appointment comes after he was named the sole finalist for the position Nov. 20. The university spent nearly a year searching for a replacement after President Lane Rawlins announced in March that he wanted to retire by the end of 2013. He will stay in the role of president until Smatresk takes over in February. Smatresk was in Denton for the vote. Afterward, he sat down with the Denton Record-Chronicle to talk about his upcoming transition. Q: What have you learned about UNT since you were nominated as the sole finalist for the presidency? A: Remembering that we spent 23 years in Arlington [at the University of Texas at Arlington], I knew quite a bit about the University of North Texas. To add to that history, obviously, Ive talked to a whole lot of the folks here, communicated with some of the deans with the provost, and Im beginning to have more talks with the vice president for research and Lane Rawlins, who has been absolutely terrific in this whole process. Read much much more: http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20131212-unanimous-decision.ece

Tyler Gaston had some apprehensions about the Jan. 1 date for UNLVs bowl game. Every Rebel, including Gaston, was thrilled the team was selected for any game, but some put extra value on playing in the Heart of Dallas Bowl against North Texas because New Years Day is a traditional date for college football. Normally, Gaston said, he would celebrate New Years Eve with his family, so his first reaction was a little sadness that he couldnt do that this year. But then I thought that I may not see these guys anymore after this year, said Gaston, a senior defensive tackle and Rancho High grad. What better way to bring it in than with my new family? UNLV coach Bobby Hauck and a few selected players were all smiles Monday as they discussed the programs first bowl game since 2000 and only the fourth in program history. The news about the game started to trickle out to the players Sunday as they prepared for a team meeting. The general feeling was joy and surprise, since the Heart of Dallas Bowl is not one of the six with Mountain West ties. Offensive lineman Brett Boyko said the constantly changing predictions over the past week were annoying. Quarterback Caleb Herring tried to avoid the updates and guesses, but word would leak to him from one source or another. Read more: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/dec/10/rebels-surprised-then-excited-when-bowl-decision-b/

1). Bowls especially non BCS bowls are all about winning and recruiting. Sure, you'd love to have a big name opponent in here with a big fan base but at the end of the day we need an opponent that we can match up with and have a decent shot of winning against. When it became apparent that the Big 10 didn't have a team to give us this year I think the focus was on the match up and not how many fans they would bring. OK so UNLV isn't a big name but you have to figure they think the same about us. It's almost comical to see the comments on each side with fans expecting to dominate the other team. The truth is it is probably a very evenly matched game and either side could win. 2). I can't help but think that C-USA's relationship with the Mountain West came into play here. Do we bend over for a program like Syracuse or Boston College or do we work with Craig Thompson to the benefit of both the Mountain West and C-USA. MUTS is likely thrilled to have a game against Navy and we were a better fit for Dallas and the Cotton Bowl. Two teams in C-USA come out with winnable bowl games. I think in the end we decided to work with the Mountain West as opposed to some of the other conferences and it makes sense, we should help each other. 3). TV Market - Vegas is a top 50 TV market and of course DFW is top 5-6. So I think they got some decent TV market coverage. 4). Recruiting -- I cannot overemphasize how big this game will be for UNT recruiting. In some way, I can tell you that the old New Orleans Bowl games were actually a detriment to recruiting because of the timing. We will have 3-4 weeks to prepare, recruit and bask in the Jan 1 bowl date. I can remember a couple of New Orleans bowl games when the mid term juco signing day occurred on the same day we were having a pregame party with all of the coaches in New Orleans. 5). TV coverage -- people are complaining about ESPNU but most people I know have that now. What people are missing is that as the early Jan 1 bowl game your highlights get played ALL DAY on ALL THE MAJOR NETWORKS. 6). With TCU and SMU out of the bowl picture it will be awesome to own Dallas Fort Worth as the local team for coverage. Navy and MUTS won't detract from that. 7). Penn State not being bowl eligible probably hurt our chances for landing a Big 10 team. 8). The Pirate would have been a big attraction for the bowl but honestly I don't know how well we would have matched up against that offense. 9). There is an interesting sub plot with the new UNT president coming from UNLV. I'm sure he wishes it wasn't playing out like this but I would assume he would be willing to do some interviews and talk up both schools. 10). Potential tie in with New Years Eve and New Years Day in Downtown Dallas.... I just have to think we will have some Mean Green fans showing up at the various events especially the Victory Park celebration and I hope that our band and cheerleaders will be given an opportunity to show their stuff. I expect a good amount of fans who otherwise wouldn't be heading downtown will be planning on it this year and that can't hurt our visibility.

In a New Year’s Day matchup at the Cotton Bowl stadium, the Rebels (7-5) will play their first postseason game since the 2000 Las Vegas Bowl. “We do kind of mirror each other,” fourth-year UNLV coach Bobby Hauck said. “Sort of like the guys at North Texas, we’ve had to kind of believe in ourselves when maybe there wasn’t a whole lot of others that could, or should. It’s just tremendously rewarding to be where we are right now.” North Texas (8-4) has won six of its last seven games in its 100th anniversary season of football, and its first in Conference USA. The bowl comes in the third season under coach Dan McCarney, who took over a program that had gone 13-58 the six seasons before he arrived. “This is validation for all the hard work put in by this team and the leadership of this senior class,” McCarney said. Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-to-play-unlv-in-heart-of-dallas-bowl/2013/12/08/df9e6190-6077-11e3-a7b4-4a75ebc432ab_story.html

I know that DT tweeted UNLV but the Heart of Dallas folks are saying our opponent won't be announced until tonight after the Big 10 Selections: