Rebels get lesson on ‘rat poison’ after first-ever national ranking

UNLV coach Barry Odom educated his team on an important subject during a Monday meeting.

He included a “rat poison” slide in his presentation after the Rebels were ranked No. 25 in USA Today’s coaches poll Sunday, the program’s first appearance in the rankings since moving up to Division I in 1978.

Former Alabama coach Nick Saban coined the term to illustrate the risks of getting caught up in your own hype midway through a season. Odom said he used that reference to tell his team it “earned a little bit of respect” by starting the year 3-0, but it should be more focused on keeping it.

“All those great things that you hear and you read, it softens your character. It softens your ability to stay on the course and to stay hungry,” Odom said. “What we need to do to become the team that we want to be is we’ve got to push. There cannot be cruise control — there will not be, because we’re not anywhere close to where we need to be.”

Odom said he believed UNLV deserved to be ranked after its season-opening 27-7 win at Houston on Aug. 31. He said Monday he didn’t know at the time the school had never appeared in The Associated Press or USA Today polls.

“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the rankings. I mean, I’m glad we are (ranked). I’ve said publicly I thought we should be, because I do,” Odom said. “For our guys to have some respect and recognition on what they’ve done up to this point, I’m certainly excited for them and for our team. … I want that to be a goal, for this to be not uncommon for us to be ranked. I want it to be something that is expected. And I know it takes great work to get there.”

Starting quarterback Matthew Sluka and senior defensive end Antonio Doyle Jr. took Odom’s message to heart.

Neither got too excited about the program’s historic feat Monday.

“It’s an accomplishment, but I don’t think it really means much yet. It’s only Week 3,” Sluka said. “We gotta keep going until the season’s over.”

Doyle added the team was happy to be ranked, but it was more excited about this week’s practices. The Rebels have a bye before hosting Fresno State at Allegiant Stadium on Sept. 28.

UNLV’s milestone comes on the heels of Thursday’s news that the Bulldogs, along with Boise State, Colorado State and San Diego State, are leaving the Mountain West to join the Pac-12 at the start of the 2026-27 season.

Odom isn’t letting the announcement impact his excitement. He said he didn’t have any reaction when he first heard the news. He said he still doesn’t have a lot of information, but he’s under the impression the departing schools seem to be “stepping into a lot of unknown.”

“I’ve always been a very strong believer in, be wherever your feet are and do the job that you need to do,” Odom said. “Everything else is going to take care of itself. There’s so many conversations I would imagine going on in the world of college football, with realignment and conference affiliation, and if I spend really any wasted time on that thought … I’m not doing what I need to do for our team.”

Odom is focused on what the Rebels are building, not whether they’re being left behind.

“If I can get this team to continue to make improvements, our culture stays strong, we recruit to the level that we’re recruiting to and we keep doing all those small day-to-day habits, then we will be on the national stage, no matter where we are,” Odom said.

Contact Callie Lawson-Freeman at clawsonfreeman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.