Last week, we ranked the Mountain West football schedules based on their difficulty, with Nevada having the fifth toughest out of 10 teams in the league. Today, we’ll zoom in closer on the Wolf Pack’s schedule by ranking the team’s 2026 opponents from least interesting to most interesting. Here is that list.

12. at Middle Tennessee (Sept. 19): Nevada’s home-and-home series against Middle Tennessee, which was scheduled in 2023, didn’t add much pop to the non-conference schedule. And while the first game in the series last year at Mackay Stadium had a thrilling ending — the Blue Raiders scored the game-winning touchdown with 21 seconds remaining to overcome a late 13-0 deficit — it was an overall ugly game with limited appeal for this year’s rematch.

11. at UTEP (Oct. 10): The MW was in desperation mode when it added UTEP as a full member after losing five schools to the Pac-12 in September 2024. The Wolf Pack and Miners were briefly WAC rivals but have only played four times, with Nevada leading the series 3-1. The most memorable game was Chance Kretschmer’s 327-yard, six-touchdown outing against UTEP in 2001, a 48-31 Wolf Pack win. This game was originally a non-league matchup before UTEP joined the MW.

10. at Northern Illinois (Nov. 14): NIU is another first-year addition to the MW, although it has more history of football success than UTEP, which has only three bowl berths in the last 20 seasons (the Huskies have 14 bowl appearances during that stretch). Still, with NIU coming off a 3-9 season, losing its head coach in February and ranking 131st out of 136 FBS teams in per-game home attendance in 2025, this is not a very buzzworthy game.

9. vs. San Jose State (Oct. 24): The Spartans and Wolf Pack have played in 24 of the last 26 seasons, so this could be an emerging rivalry in the new-look MW. Four of the last six games in the series have been decided by one score. Nevada whipped SJSU, 55-10, last season and will host the Spartans in back-to-back years. That revenge factor for SJSU might add a little spice to the game, but this has not historically been a game that has fired up the Wolf Pack faithful.

8. vs. Hawaii (Nov. 21): The Rainbow Warriors have won five of its last six games against Nevada, which had gone 7-1 against Hawaii in the eight games before that. The Rainbow Warriors seem to save their best for Nevada with lopsided wins over the Wolf Pack in 2019 (by 51 points), 2022 (15 points), 2023 (13 points) and 2024 (21 points). Hawaii has generally been a good litmus test for the quality of the Nevada football team, which should again be the case in 2026.

7. vs. Air Force (Sept. 26): The Wolf Pack and Falcons have played just eight times during Nevada’s 14 seasons in the MW, but this will become a more regular annual game in the new conference membership. These games have generally been tight, with five of the eight contests decided by three points or fewer. And it’s always cool to see a different style of offense, with the Falcons running a triple-option rushing attack, which has averaged 39.5 ppg in its eight games against Nevada.

6. vs. Western Kentucky (Sept. 5): A non-league game against Western Kentucky would not typically rank highly on the interest meter, but this marks Nevada’s 2026 season opener and its result could play a huge role in whether the Wolf Pack wins enough games to qualify for a bowl this season. The Hilltoppers have reached a bowl in seven straight seasons and won at least eight games in six of those years, so this will be an excellent test for Nevada against a quality Group of 6 program

5. vs. New Mexico (Nov. 6): After an excellent 2025 season, the Lobos are primed to be one of the MW’s best football programs following the loss of Boise State, Fresno State and San Diego State to the Pac-12. And with Nevada’s ambitions being higher in this new-look conference, being able to win the Battle of the Wolves will be important. Nevada mustered one of its better efforts of the 2025 season last year in Albuquerque before falling to New Mexico, 24-22.

4. vs. Montana State (Sept. 12): Typically, Nevada’s annual game against an FCS school does have much sizzle. But this year’s contest does. Not only is Montana State coming off an FCS national championship, but the Bobcats’ trajectory on that path was started when now-Nevada head coach Jeff Choate led the program from 2016-20. It’s not often an FBS team is an underdog against an FCS school, but that’s likely the case in this one. And Nevada has lost three games to FCS schools since 2017.

3. at UCLA (Oct. 31): Nevada is just 3-31 on the road against Power 4 schools since joining the FBS in 1992, but this seems like a winnable road game against a Big Ten team … as long as Nevada is in better form this year than the previous four seasons. UCLA is coming off a 3-9 campaign and is 53-65 over the last decade. So, this is one of the more vulnerable Power 4 foes the Wolf Pack could face. And Nevada fans should be excited to see its team play in the Rose Bowl, one of college’s top venues.

2. at North Dakota State (Oct. 17): How hard is it to play in NDSU’s Fargodome? “It’s a harder place to play than Boise,” Nevada head coach Jeff Choate said. “I’ve been there.” The Bison’s move from the FCS to the FBS this season comes after it dominated that lower level to the tune of 10 national titles in a 14-year span. NDSU fans should be enthused by this move and provide a stiff road environment for Nevada, which is just 4-20 on the road over the last four seasons.

1. at UNLV (Nov. 28): The biggest game of the year every year is the Battle for the Fremont Cannon, which has typically tilted in favor of Nevada but been won by UNLV each of the last four seasons. Since Chris Ault resigned following the 2012 campaign, the Wolf Pack is just 5-8 against the rival Rebels, with UNLV’s football program being powered by rocket fuel in recent seasons with three straight MW title game appearances. In the regular-season finale, Nevada tries to turn the Cannon blue for the first time since 2021.

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.