The UNLV Rebels future appears to be extremely bright.

When people talk about old-growth forests, their minds often drift to northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

UNLV announced an initiative called “The FANtastic 20” on Thursday, a program to improve fans’ experience this football season.

I stopped at the part about 80 percent of the final cost, which is what a Review-Journal report stated this past week has been raised to build the now projected $31 million Fertitta Football Complex at UNLV, which apparently at this point would mean the second floor being left undone.

The cost of construction for the Fertitta Football Complex has increased significantly, causing UNLV officials to delay building the interior of the second floor until additional funds are raised.

It’s a tremendous challenge getting fans to come out to the stadium these days. When (nearly) every game is on TV, why go to the stadium when you have to miss out on the six other games on TV plus you have to deal with spotty in-stadium plus having to fight through traffic and parking and obnoxious fans to your left and right — and, oh yeah, you still have to pay for your tickets and concessions on top of all that.

When Desiree Reed-Francois took over as UNLV’s director of athletics on June 1 last year, she made it clear her top priority was to listen and learn. Coming from Virginia Tech, where she served as associate AD from 2014-17, Reed-Francois wanted to take some time to educate herself on the culture at UNLV and observe how the department operated before taking any sweeping actions.

Three UNLV teams won the Mountain West championship in the past five days, giving the Rebels five conference titles for the 2017-2018 year.

In the early 1980s, UNLV football practiced on what then-head coach Harvey Hyde described as a “parking lot.”

The UNLV men's basketball team is looking to reestablish a winning culture and that means shakeups are needed. The team has already debuted new uniforms for the upcoming season, which were met with mixed reviews, and the latest change will surely have fans talking again.

The UNLV football team is rallying together in support of its local community after the Oct. 1 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip took the lives of 58 people and injured more than 500.

Tributes abounded in Las Vegas on Saturday, when the city played host to UFC 216 and UNLV's home football game against San Diego State, the city's first two major sporting events since the mass shooting that killed 58 people this week.