It's a good thing that Ken Wilson doesn't coach soccer in Italy's Serie A, or Spain's La Liga, where patience is thin and ropes are short. Losing ten straight after a 2-0 break in his first season in Reno was bad enough, and would have forced some coaches into witness protection -- especially after the offense short-circuited and emerged as one of the nation's worst. An 0-8 record in the Mountain West didn't help matters, either. All after predecessor Jay Norvell had succeeded in reviving the old Nevada offensive prowess and qualified for bowls in preceding years before moving to better facilities at Colorado State. 

If that wasn't bad enough, the athletic director who hired Wilson, Doug Knuth, was out just a couple of months later, and Wilson now works for an AD who didn't hire him (Stephanie Rempe, whose football chops were established at previous stops as an assistant AD in the SEC, including LSU). Knuth and much of the Wolf Pack fan base thought the Wilson hire was a bit "back to the future" because of Wilson's resume' that included an earlier stint under HOF coach Chris Ault at Mackay Stadium. To this point, however, the Wilson hire looks like it might fall short of even the difficult Chris Tormey or Brian Polian eras, much less the historic Ault regimes...

Bruce Marshall's full breakdown of Nevada's 2023 outlook, which includes how he's playing their win total, can be found below as part of SportsLine's preview of the Mountain West season.

Mountain West preview: Conference winner | Air Force | Boise State | Colorado State | Fresno State | Hawaii | Nevada | New Mexico | San Diego State | San Jose State | UNLV | Utah State | Wyoming

2023 Nevada at a glance

• Last Year: 2-10 SU, 4-8 ATS, 5-6-1 O/U
• Returning starters: Offense 5; Defense 6
• Win total: 4 (Over -145, Under +115)

What do you need to know about Nevada before locking in your Mountain West futures bets? And which side of their win total makes for the best play? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Mountain West futures betting strategy from a veteran college football expert!