When Nevada agreed to join the Mountain West in 2010, it was a rushed, even if the correct, decision.
Massive college realignment was rocking the national landscape and the MW and WAC, which the Wolf Pack was a member of at the time, were fighting for survival. The MW had just lost Utah and BYU and was about to lose TCU. The MW had just lost Boise State and was trying to hatch a deal to land BYU in non-football sports. It was an all-out assault to survive and Nevada opted to join the MW, which played a part in killing the WAC as a football conference.