UNLV makes College Football Playoff rankings for 1st time

UNLV continues to achieve new milestones under second-year coach Barry Odom.

The Rebels made their first appearance in program history in the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday, sliding in at No. 24 in the committee’s latest update. UNLV also returned to the national rankings this week, appearing at No. 23 in both the USA Today coaches poll and The Associated Press Top 25 poll.

The CFP is expanding to 12 teams this season, and the official bracket will be revealed Dec. 8. It will consist of the five highest-ranked conference champions and the seven remaining highest-ranked teams.

The four highest-ranked conference champions will receive a bye, while the remaining eight teams will play first-round games on the campus of the higher-seeded team.

The Rebels (8-2, 4-1 Mountain West) are unlikely to climb high enough to be an at-large team, but they could make the bracket if they win the conference championship game and become the highest-ranked team outside of the four power conferences — the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC.

That honor currently belongs to No. 12 Boise State (9-1, 6-0), which beat UNLV 29-24 on Oct. 25 at Allegiant Stadium. The only other nonpower conference schools ahead of the Rebels are No. 19 Army (9-0, 7-0 American Athletic Conference) and No. 20 Tulane (9-2, 7-0 AAC). They will meet in the AAC title game Dec. 6.

UNLV needs help to make the Mountain West championship game. Colorado State (7-3, 5-0) remains ahead of it in the standings with two games to play.

“Well, you know, two close losses, overtime at Syracuse and the loss by five to Boise, impressive in what they have done,” said Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, who also serves as the chair of the CFP selection committee, of UNLV. “Their quarterback, (Hajj-Malik) Williams, has really performed both passing and rushing. I think he leads the team in both categories. They’ve just been impressive to us, and while they may not be in the top two in the league, we really look at the team’s performance overall throughout the season to determine how we rank them. But we’ve been impressed by UNLV.”

The Rebels close their season with a road game against San Jose State (6-4, 3-3) at 7 p.m. Friday and a home game against UNR (3-8, 0-5) at 5 p.m. on Nov. 30.

Boise State finishes with games against Wyoming (2-8, 2-4) and Oregon State (4-6). Colorado State will play Fresno State (5-5, 3-3) and Utah State (3-7, 2-3).

The teams that would make the bracket based on Tuesday’s rankings, along with Boise State, are No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Alabama, No. 8 Miami (Fla.), No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 10 Georgia and No. 14 BYU.

Oregon, Texas, Miami and Boise State would receive byes. No. 11 Tennessee would be the first team out.

The Rebels, regardless of where they end the regular season in the rankings, are having a historic campaign. They appeared in the national rankings for the first time this year and have secured a bowl berth in consecutive seasons for the first time.

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on X.