The Nevada men’s basketball team opened up the last half-hour of practice to the public today for “Hoops & Treats,” Most of which was spent scrimmaging and dunking.

- Guard Brandon Fields found his shooting stroke in the offseason.

Fields hit three big 3-pointers during the scrimmages and shot it well from outside during drills. If he can add that dimension to his explosive athleticism, he could average double digits this season.

More importantly, Fields really did a good job of defending Marcelus Kemp. Fields let Kemp, an All-American candidate and one of the most explosive scorers in the nation, only get loose only a couple times.

- Forward JaVale McGee might be the most athletic 7-footer in the nation. During one sequence, he hammered down a putback dunk, went coast-to-coast for another throw down after stepping into the passing lane for a steal, then a couple possessions later nailed a turnaround floater.

If he stays out of foul trouble, 14 ppg might not be out of the question.

The preseason ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll came out this morning with North Carolina, who Nevada plays in December, at No. 1.

While not ranked, the Wolf Pack picked up eight votes, the most of any Western Athletic Conference team. It remains to be seen whether the Wolf Pack warrants a spot in the top 40 teams in the country, but the votes do show how much respect the Wolf Pack has accumulated nationally.

Fresno State and Utah State both received two votes. Surprisingly, New Mexico State didn’t get any attention.

Maybe the Wolf Pack’s 31-28 win against Utah State on Saturday was an inevitable letdown following the Wolf Pack’s epic four-overtime game at Boise State last Sunday.

Maybe the short week between games didn’t leave the Wolf Pack with enough time to properly heal and prepare for the Aggies.

Maybe it was impossible to match last Sunday’s emotions against a team with a 12-game losing streak.

Still, Saturday very nearly turned into one of the most embarrassing losses in program history.

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Wow, that was a painful first half. The Wolf Pack started out dominating both sides of the ball and grabbed a 14-0 lead. Then it looked like the Pack got complacent, the offense struggled, and the defense and special teams reverted to the form it showed over the first six weeks to go into halftime down 21-14.

From a talent standpoint, this game shouldn’t be close. The Aggies are a joke. Nevada’s linebackers have been running down the Aggies’ running back and wide receivers, the offense has a huge size advantage. Aggies quarterback Leon Jackson is athletic, but he’s not real fast or a good passer.

You’ve got to wonder what’s going on here.

Call me crazy, but I think the Wolf Pack grabs its first WAC win today in Logan, Utah. Eventually somebody will put the Wolf Pack in a tough spot by taking the run option away from quarterback Colin Kaepernick, but that won’t happen today.

Talk about letdowns all you want, but Utah State just isn’t very good. They run a lot of option, and they’re still only in the middle of the conference in rushing yards. To steal some words from Chancellor Jim Rogers, they don’t do much well.

This is the first game of a crucial stretch for the Wolf Pack. Nothing is finished in the conference. While the Wolf Pack probably won’t win the WAC, nothing is settled in a conference where no team is above a meltdown.

After the 2-4 start, however, the Wolf Pack probably has to win out to get to a bowl game. That’s doable with Utah State, Idaho, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, and San Jose State left on the schedule - along with an overrated Hawaii team - but coach Chris Ault has to make sure his team takes care of business. That starts with the Aggies.

The Western Athletic Conference had a great weekend from a national publicity standpoint. Boise State’s 69-67 win against Nevada is the highest scoring game in NCAA history and will go down as one of the most exciting games this season. A national ESPN audience watched the Wolf Pack and Broncos rack up more than 1,100 yards of offense in a four-overtime thriller.

The game broke all kinds of conference and national records and attracted plenty of attention - the game even got a plug in The New York Times’ college football blog.

Don’t forget, though, that Hawaii and San Jose State played an exciting, high-scoring, overtime game of their own Friday night on ESPN where the Warriors erased a 14-point deficit in the final minutes of the fourth quarter before winning in OT.

After Boise State’s Fiesta Bowl win last season and Hawaii’s BCS challenge this season - along with Colt Brennan’s impending surge at the Heisman Trophy - the WAC was already warranting some national attention. Games like this weekends can only help that.

At this point, the WAC is positioning itself as the premier non-BCS conference in college athletics.

Nick Fazekas took the floor in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Tuesday to take on a Reggie Theus-coached team in a hostile environment.

What, you thought those days were over?

Not with the beautiful fate of preseason NBA basketball. Fazekas returned to the House that Reggie Built as a rookie power forward for the Dallas Mavericks, and Theus was prowling the familiar sideline for the Sacramento Kings.

Fazekas got the better of the deal - he scored eight points on 4 of 6 shooting and the Mavs won 101-99.

Fazekas, a second round draft pick in June, is fighting to make the Mavericks roster as Dirk Nowitzki’s backup and avoid the hell of the NBA Developmental League.

Fazekas is 12 of 22 from the field with 15 rebounds coming off the bench in four preseason games.

I think ESPN analyst Bill Curry has a man-crush on Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Even as both teams racked up enough points to reign down the unpromised fury of Y2K on the Bronco Stadium scoreboard, Curry spent most of the night praising the Wolf Pack’s freshman quarterback basically everything - scoring touchdowns, throwing the ball out of bounds, standing on the sideline - it didn’t matter. Dude even compared him to Vince Young.

Thing is, I don’t blame him.

Making his first collegiate start, Kaepernick showed himself in a class far superior to anything Boise State had to offer.

He passed for 243 yards and three touchdowns - including three plays of more than 40 yards - and gashed the Broncos defense for 177 yards and two touchdowns, including a 55-yard scramble that set up one of his touchdowns and a 25-yard touchdown scramble in the second overtime where he ran away from Boise State’s cornerbacks.

Kid’s got a strong arm, great size and mobility, and he didn’t turn the ball over once. Through two games, he’s flat out dominated the WAC’s best two defenses.
Kaepernick still has to develop his passing skills, and teams will eventually do things to limit his running. So I’m not ready to anoint him Nevada’s football messiah quite yet - he’ll have his share of tough games as he matures - but his combination of size, arm strength, athleticism, and intelligence makes him one of the most exciting young players in the country.

Kaepernick delivered the kind of trancendent, awe-inspiring, tear-arousing performance against Boise State that escapes words (except for Bill Curry’s).

The only appropriate thing to do it justice is give him a nickname - he shall heretofore be dubbed “Super Kaep.”

Nevada coach Chris Ault’s prophecy was almost fulfilled.

Since returning for his third stint as head coach for the Wolf Pack, Ault made good on promises by restoring the Mackay Stadium advantage and beating UNLV three straight times.

Taking down Boise State was the last item on the checklist, and the Wolf Pack almost earned the improbable win tonight before falling 69-67 in four overtimes in what has to be considered the best college football game this season.

Entering tonights game, the Wolf Pack didn’t figure to have much of a chance. The Broncos had owned the “rivalry” over the last seven years, winning by almost 40 points per game.

Instead the Wolf Pack’s offense pounded Boise State’s No. 6-ranked defense for more than 600 yards of offense and 67 points.

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The Nevada men’s basketball team showed up in uniform for media day on Thursday, and center JaVale McGee looks like he had a productive offseason.

The official Web site lists him at 7-feet, 237-pounds - which is bigger and taller than last year. That kid’s a scary athlete.

With the possible exclusion of New Mexico State, the Wolf Pack boasts the most athletic frontcourt in the conference with McGee and DeMarshay Johnson, the former starter who returns after being academically ineligible last season.

While freshman Armon Johnson and sophomore shooting guard Brandon Fields will have to share most of the point guard duties, they should have a pretty easy time connecting on the lob pass.

Actually, the Wolf Pack is much longer and more athletic than last year’s team in general. Expect plenty of running.

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