Nevada football: Pack looks to finish 2012 schedule - Montgomery Advertiser

Wolf Pack associate athletic director Keith Hackett, who is in charge of Nevada’s football schedule, is a man in search of a game.

A home game.

Preferably one against a BCS school.

The Wolf Pack has 11 games scheduled for 2012, including three nonconference tilts: the season opener at Cal (Sept. 1); vs. Northwestern State (Sept. 15); and at Texas State (Sept. 29).

Hackett said he’s zeroed in on scheduling a home game on Sept. 8 â€" the second game of the season â€" to complete the team’s 2012 campaign, which is the program’s first in the Mountain West Conference. He’d like to have the schedule finalized by Jan. 15, which is when the MWC would like to release its composite schedule.

“There are a couple teams we’re looking at, but the dilemma that most people are having right now is everybody is in search of home games,” Hackett said. “We should be able, within the next week or so, to get this 12th game taken care of. These last two years, with all the conference realignment, has made things really difficult when trying to put your schedule together.”

Since the Wolf Pack is playing at Hawaii next season, it has the option of adding a 13th game. But Hackett said Nevada will likely stick with a 12-game schedule. He said the Wolf Pack could easily add a 13th game against a BCS foe, but would have to go on the road for that game.

After talking with athletic director Cary Groth and coach Chris Ault, Hackett said adding a 13th game probably won’t happen even though the Wolf Pack could reel in a big paycheck out of such a move.

“We could get a big guaranteed-money game,” Hackett said. “But after talking with Cary and talking with Coach, the 12 games is what we need to do. We want to move into this new conference and not jam ourselves up with too many road games. But a lot of teams are asking us. A lot of teams have home games to fill. Missouri alone has three homes it needs to fill for next season because it’s moving to the Southeastern Conference.”

Hackett is focused on avoiding a reoccurrence of the 2011 schedule when the Wolf Pack started with four straight road games. The schedule was oft-criticized by Ault and fans, and the Pack stumbled to a 1-3 start.

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In July, the Wolf Pack worked itself out of a road game at Washington for that Sept. 8 date to lighten the 2012 schedule. Hackett said he didn’t want to start the year with two straight road games at Pac-12 foes.

“Playing two games on the road like that is tough,” said Hackett, who pushed back the game at Washington to 2018. “It took quite a bit of work to get that done, but it was important that we did get it done. That was an important step in putting this 2012 schedule together.”

Hackett’s focus remains on bringing high-quality opponents to Mackay Stadium and scheduling teams regionally aligned with Nevada. The Wolf Pack has scheduled at least two Pac-12 foes in every season from 2013-2018.

Nevada had hosted a BCS team in five of the previous six seasons entering this past season, but didn’t lure a BCS foe to Mackay Stadium in 2011. Hackett said he’s looking to plug a BCS foe into that final nonconference game.

“You bet that’s our focus,” Hackett said. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to do. We think it’s important to get BCS schools into Mackay Stadium, and that’s what we’re trying to do right now.”