Northwestern to pay $1.2 million for 2017 non-conference game vs. Nevada

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Usually, people spend a lot of money to travel to Nevada and partake in its various entertainment options.

Northwestern is spending a lot of money to bring Nevada to Evanston.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reported Tuesday that Northwestern will pay Nevada a whopping $1.2 million to travel to play a non-conference football game in Evanston in 2017.

Big-conference schools paying out large sums of money to play host to small-conference schools is nothing new and downright commonplace. The school from the larger conference, the Big Ten in this case, gets a relatively easier opponent in hopes of securing a non-conference win. The school from the smaller conference, in this case the Mountain West, gets a big payday that is vital to keeping its program competitive and funding things throughout the athletics department.

It's generally a win-win, though this kind of situation also sets up the big-conference school for potential embarrassment. Should the small-conference school score an upset, well then the loss comes with a million-dollar price tag. Big Ten fans will surely remember Michigan's folly with Appalachian State, and that's not the only time such a thing has occurred.

So now it's Northwestern's turn to shell out the cash for a date with Nevada. The Wolf Pack have posted a 7-6 record in four of the last five seasons, with a 4-8 finish thrown in there, too. The two schools met twice previously in 2006 and 2007, splitting that home-and-home series.

Northwestern's non-conference schedule for the 2017 season is now complete, with this Nevada game accompanying a road game against Duke and a home game against Western Illinois.

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