Las Vegas Kicks Off Bowl Season

A look at the brief history of the Las Vegas Bowl reveals three constants, none of which figures to change tonight when Nevada meets Ball State.

Since its inception four years ago as a game matching the winners of the Mid-American and Big West conferences, the Las Vegas Bowl has:

Kicked off the major bowl season.

Featured two teams in high-scoring games.

Had few people bother to come and watch.

The fifth Las Vegas Bowl is expected to be much the same today (6 p.m., ESPN) when Nevada, the nation’s top offensive team, meets run-oriented Ball State at UNLV’s 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium.

Despite a fairly attractive matchup, the same stadium that was packed less than two weeks ago for the Western Athletic Conference championship game figures to be less than half full for a bowl game that has yet to grab the attention of Las Vegans.

The 15,000 or so who do come out, though, could be in for a treat in a game that has had its share of scoring and exciting finishes since the inaugural Las Vegas Bowl in 1992.

The first game also featured Nevada, the Big West champions, who lost 35-34 in what has been the lowest scoring of the Las Vegas Bowl games.

Just for good measure, Nevada returned last year to lose 40-37 to Toledo in what was the first major-college overtime game.