Murray: Predictions for every Nevada Wolf Pack program this season

Chris Murray | Reno Gazette-Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption RGJ Sports Week! One bold Nevada Wolf Pack prediction The RGJ's Chris Murray, Duke Ritenhouse and Jim Krajewski bring back RGJ Sports Week and talk about Wolf Pack, Raiders, Aces and prep football.

Reno Gazette-Journal columnist Chris Murray has been known to be a bit wordy, so we're giving him 1,000 words (no more than that) to share his thoughts from the week that was in the world of sports.

* THE WOLF PACK ATHLETIC season began this week when Nevada soccer hosted Pacific in an exhibition game. This year is a highly anticipated one with Nevada basketball having Final Four expectations, Nevada football entering with grand hopes in Jay Norvell’s second season and the department making the shift from Nike to Adidas. Here is a synopsis plus predictions for each of Nevada’s 15 programs in 2018-19.

* BASEBALL: Nevada reaches its first NCAA Regional since 2000. It’s crazy to think it’s been almost two decades since the Wolf Pack made the NCAA Tournament. Nevada did lose three of its top four hitters, its Friday starter and its closer in the offseason, but T.J. Bruce’s squad has good young talent and freshman Owen Sharts is the top recruit to sign with the program. He’ll pitch the Pack to a Regional.

More: Kaleb Fossum dedicates number, season to fallen friend Tyler Hilinski

More: Murray's Mailbag: Which Wolf Pack dream scenario is more likely?

* MEN’S BASKETBALL: The Wolf Pack becomes the first school to win three straight out-right MW regular-season titles while setting a school record for wins. Nevada goes 16-2 in MW play and tops 30 victories overall, but it falls short of reaching the Final Four, losing to Duke, the eventual national champs in the Elite Eight. Some good news: After its tournament run, Nevada retains Eric Musselman for another year.

* WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Following a stellar debut under Amanda Levens last year, Nevada takes a small step back in 2018-19. After all, the Pack did lose its top two scorers and five of its top eight. The team added six talented freshmen who have a bright future, but this ends up being a learning-lesson season. That group of freshmen ultimately will get Nevada to its first Big Dance thanks to the things learned this year.

* CROSS COUNTRY: Nevada has finished sixth or seventh in the MW in each of its six seasons in the conference, but this is the year that changes (Nevada’s top five runners last season were sophomores). Running in one of the best conferences in the nation, the Wolf Pack places a program-best four in the conference tournament before falling just shy of reaching the NCAAs for the first time in school history.

* FOOTBALL: After two seasons on the sideline in the postseason, Nevada returns to a bowl after beating UNLV in the regular-season finale to pick up its sixth victory to secure bowl eligibility. The Pack then beats Louisiana Monroe in the Arizona Bowl. Ty Gangi leads a couple of memorable comebacks and throws for Nevada’s most yards in a season since John Dutton whipped it around for 3,526 yards in 1997.

More: Nevada women's basketball adds a focus on mental health this offseason

More: Confirmed: Reno High's Ale Kaho headed to Alabama

* MEN’S GOLF: Nevada lost four key players this offseason, none more valuable than Grant Booth, who had the best college career in program history, so it takes a step back – no NCAA Regional berth this year – but remains competitive in the MW thanks to the core of returners Sam Meek, Sam Harned and Joey Vrzich as well as Houston transfer Tony Gil. Meek makes an NCAA Regional as an individual.

* WOMEN’S GOLF: Nevada lost its top two scorers this summer in Celyn Khoo (74.0) and Jordan Keyser (75.4) with four freshmen expected to battle for important roles, so this is a young team. Despite the losses, the Wolf Pack improves year over year and places fifth in the MW Championship for the second straight season.

* RIFLE: After reaching the NCAA Championship eight times from 2002-12, Nevada hasn’t been back in the last six seasons. With key shooters Justin Nissen, Emily Capaul and Sarah Jameson gone after last season, the Wolf Pack’s NCAA drought extends to seven seasons (the top eight teams in the nation qualify for the national event), but stud senior Mitchell Van Patten makes it as an individual.

* WOMEN’S SOCCER: Nevada septuples – is that a real word? – its win total from last season, which seems impossible but the Wolf Pack won just one match last season so projecting a seven-victory campaign over a 19-game schedule isn’t outlandish. This is a young team that will likely struggle to score – Nevada was shut out 13 times in 19 games last year – but things have to improve this season, don't they?

* SOFTBALL: The Wolf Pack will have another dynamic offense. The big question is whether it will be improved enough in the circle to compete for a MW title. We say yes. Reed High Julia Jensen will take a big step forward to stabilize the pitching and Carson High graduate Jennifer Purcell, who struggled last year while returning from a torn ACL, will return to her sophomore season form. This will be Nevada’s surprise team in 2018-19.

* SWIMMING & DIVING: I’ll go out on a limb and predict diving coach Jian Li You wins the conference coach of the year award. She’s only done that seven straight seasons, so that seems like a safe bet. Overall, the program will place in the top three in MW Championships for the sixth straight season but won't quite take the crown over rivals Boise State and San Diego State. It will send a small contingent to NCAAs.

More: 1,000 Words: Is this really Nevada football's best home schedule ever?

More: Murray: The move Nevada needs to make to compete for MW titles

* TRACK & FIELD: After eighth-place and 10th-place finishes at the MW Championships last season, Nevada women’s track and field will make major gains. The Wolf Pack placed fifth and fourth in those championships the year before and lacked depth last season. The program does return six athletes who made NCAA West Preliminaries last season. Nevada will place top-five in both MW events this year.

* MEN’S TENNIS: For only the second time in program history, the men’s tennis team will advance to the final of the MW Championships, where it will fall to rival UNLV. The Wolf Pack returns Julien Evrard and Kostya Nesterenko, who both made the All-MW team as a sophomores last season. They provide a nice one-two punch. There’s work to do in doubles, but Nevada should field a highly competitive team.

* WOMEN’S TENNIS: After going 9-9 last season (1-3 in the MW), Nevada dips below .500. The team must cope with the losses of two elite players – Claudia Herrero, its best singles player, and Blaga Delic, its best doubles player. It’s not easy to replace your two big guns. Nevada lost a number of close ones last year (five by a score of 4-3) and will be on the wrong side of those again if it can’t replace these two.

* VOLLEYBALL: No Wolf Pack team underwent more offseason change than volleyball, which waved goodbye to six players who still had eligibility remaining. Not all were key players but some of the losses will hurt. This team was young last season (11 of its 14 players were underclassmen), and it showed in the results (10-20 overall, 8-10 in the MW, including 1-8 against the top five teams in the conference). After returning only two of its top seven players from last season, this is a likely rebuilding year for the team.

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at cmurray@rgj.com or follow him on Twitter @MurrayRGJ.