Cupcakes before conference play

A little bit of exercise never hurt anyone. That's pretty much the purpose of UNLV's next two games.

On Sunday, December 31st at noon, the Rebels will host the Carroll College Fighting Saints, an NAIA squad that plays in the Frontier Conference. The Saints hold a 5-7 record and but are coming off recent wins over Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) and Walla Walla University.

But it gets easier from there. On Tuesday, January 2nd at 1 p.m. PST, the Rebels will host Bethesda University of California. The Flames are Division I of National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA). It's difficult to ascertain their actual record as the school website isn't regularly updated, but the incomplete current stats show the Flames to be 0-13 with all games played on the road.

Aside from the winless season, to put into perspective just how poor the Flames are, they have dropped games to schools named Menlo (112-60), Hope International (89-36), and The Masters (111-59). In games against schools fans have heard of, they've lost to the University of San Francisco (128-59), San Jose State University (117-72), and UC Santa Barbara (126-76).

The game against the Flames was a late toss in game to replace the December cancellation of UNLV's game at Dayton. That game was cancelled due to the shooting on UNLV's campus on December 6th.

While neither game will qualify in counting towards the win-loss record, it's an opportunity for every Rebel to put up career bests.