UNLV’s College Football Playoff hopes get major boost; UNR on deck

The UNLV football team can give thanks for Memphis.

The Tigers defeated Tulane 34-24 on Thursday, and the Rebels now seemingly have a direct path to make the College Football Playoff.

In the expanded 12-team CFP, the five highest-ranked conference champions will earn automatic bids. The four highest-ranked conference champions will earn the top four seeds and receive first-round byes, while the remaining eight teams will play each other in the first round on the home field of the higher-seeded team.

In the CFP rankings released Tuesday, No. 17 Tulane (9-3) was the only school outside of the four major conferences ahead of the No. 22 Rebels (9-2, 5-1 Mountain West) other than No. 11 Boise State (11-1, 7-0).

UNLV now needs only to defeat rival UNR (3-9, 0-6) on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium to earn a rematch with Boise State in the Mountain West championship game Dec. 6 in Boise, Idaho.

That game would then appear to be a de facto play-in game to earn an automatic bid to the playoff as one of the top five conference champions.

Boise State defeated UNLV in the Mountain West title game 44-20 last season and handed UNLV its first defeat of this year, 29-24 on Oct. 25. Both matchups took place at Allegiant Stadium.

‘Thankful’

Even after the most recent loss to the Broncos, second-year UNLV coach Barry Odom maintained that the Rebels controlled their own destiny.

Results keep conspiring to prove him right. Fresno State defeated Colorado State 28-22 on Nov. 24 to ruin the Rams’ undefeated record in Mountain West play and put the Rebels on track to play in the conference title game with a win Saturday.

Tulane defeating Memphis on Thursday and winning the American Athletic championship game would’ve created a difficult case for UNLV to jump the Green Wave in the rankings. As luck would have it, Memphis was up 17-10 at halftime and kept extending the lead.

It’s just another thing for Odom to add to his gratitude list this holiday season, which he rattled off Monday during his weekly news conference at the Fertitta Football Complex.

“I’m thankful for the leadership. I’m thankful for them trusting us, me. I’m thankful for the work that they put in every day. I’m thankful for them having a chip on their shoulder,” Odom said. “I’m thankful for the health of our team. I’m thankful for the ability to remove any restrictions that anyone would put on this team because of the logo and just be who they are and go win and prove people wrong.”

UNR scouting report

To continue the path of disproving doubters, UNLV has to avoid the trap of complacency against UNR in the 50th Battle for the Fremont Cannon. Odom and his team already emphasized their focus on the matchup as opposed to the postseason outlook.

At first glance, the Wolf Pack don’t seem like a major threat. UNLV dominated them in a 45-27 win last year. UNR enters Saturday’s matchup as a 17½-point underdog.

But any rivalry game can be dangerous — especially between these two teams — and that’s not UNR’s only motivation. The Wolf Pack are looking to break a five-game losing streak in what will be their last chance to avoid finishing the season without a conference win.

UNR’s record doesn’t quite tell the full story. During this five-game skid, the Wolf Pack lost 24-21 to Fresno State, 28-21 to Boise State and 22-19 to Air Force last week.

The Wolf Pack have been a top red zone team this year, scoring touchdowns on 78 percent (28-for-36) of their chances from 20 yards or less. But they were 0-for-2 against Air Force.

UNR junior quarterback Brendon Lewis has thrown for 1,998 yards and 14 touchdowns this season with six interceptions.

But UNLV is a bigger passing threat. Quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams took over in the fourth game of the season after Matthew Sluka exited over an NIL dispute. UNR coach Jeff Choate called the situation “addition by subtraction” for the Rebels.

Williams has thrown for 1,567 yards with 15 touchdowns and four interceptions.

UNLV senior wideout Ricky White III recorded 166 receiving yards and two touchdowns against the Wolf Pack last season. He’s 35 yards away from his second straight 1,000-yard season.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.