BYU Football: Cougars add home-and-home series with UNLV

LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 17: A Welcome to Las Vegas sign is seen as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump prepare for their final presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on October 17, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Clinton and Trump are scheduled to participate in the final debate on October 19. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 17: A Welcome to Las Vegas sign is seen as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump prepare for their final presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on October 17, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Clinton and Trump are scheduled to participate in the final debate on October 19. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) /
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BYU Football has scheduled a home-and-home series with UNLV in 2023 and 2024. It’ll be the Cougars’ second game in Las Vegas’ new NFL stadium.

BYU Football now has a second game scheduled in Las Vegas’ new NFL stadium.

On Monday, NBC Sports reported that BYU and UNLV have signed a home-and-home series in 2023 and 2024.

The first matchup will take place in Provo, with the game tentatively scheduled for November 4, 2023.

Then the Cougars will head to Sin City the next season, tentatively on November 2, 2024.

It will be the first time that BYU takes on UNLV in the new NFL stadium that’s slated to open in 2020. Both the Rebels and the relocated Las Vegas Raiders will play there.

It won’t be the first time the Cougars play on that field, though. BYU is slated to play Arizona in a neutral-site battle in Las Vegas in 2021, and that game will likely be held at the new stadium.

With the new series, BYU now has seven games scheduled for 2023:

  • Tennessee
  • at Virginia
  • at Houston
  • Boise State
  • UNLV
  • at USC
  • Stanford

In 2024 they have five games so far:

  • Hawaii
  • Georgia Southern
  • at East Carolina
  • at UNLV
  • at North Carolina State

For BYU, a series with UNLV makes sense. A road game against the Rebels always draws well for two reasons.

One, there’s a built-in fan base in Las Vegas.

Two, it’s not far from Provo, allowing many fans to make a weekend trip.

Plus, the Cougars have dominated the Rebels. BYU leads the series 17-3, with two of those losses coming in the down years of the Gary Crowton era.

Even in their disappointing 2017 campaign, the Cougars managed to beat the Rebels 31-21 at UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium.