Vanderbilt and UNLV have set aside a pair of dates to play two future football games. The home-and-home deal will begin in 2019 and conclude in 2023.
According to the announcement from Vanderbilt, the Commodores of the SEC will host the Mountain West Conference’s UNLV on October 12, 2019 in the first meeting between the two schools on the football field. The second game in the series will be played September 16, 2023 at UNLV. Barring any other changes to the schedules before then, Vanderbilt’s trip to UNLV will mark the first time an SEC program has visited Las Vegas for a regular season game. The only other time an SEC team played in Las Vegas was in the 2000 Las Vegas Bowl, when UNLV topped Arkansas. UNLV has faced SEC competition before, but never at home in the regular season.
“We are delighted to add Vanderbilt to our future schedule,” said Reed-Francois. “Signing a home-and-home series with an SEC team shows how bright the future is for our program. Las Vegas is a world-class city and we look forward to hosting the Commodores and other fan bases from major programs in the coming years.”
By the time Vanderbilt makes their trip to play UNLV, a brand new football venue should be in place with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders preparing to move to Las Vegas once a new stadium is constructed in the next few years.
Vanderbilt has been reaching out to the Mountain West Conference for a number of future football matchups, many of which are home-and-home deals. Vanderbilt has additional future games lined up against MWC opponents Hawaii (2022-23), Nevada (2018), and Colorado State (2020-21, 2025-26).
As a member of the SEC, Vanderbilt is required to schedule at least one game per season against another power conference opponent or power conference equivalent of an opponent as determined by the SEC. UNLV does not satisfy that scheduling requirement, but Vanderbilt is covered with the non-conference scheduling demand in both seasons. In 2019, Vanderbilt will play at Purdue (Big Ten), and in 2023 Vandy will play at Wake Forest (ACC).