LAS VEGAS — UNLV has spent three seasons changing where it belongs in the national conversation. The Athletic now sees the Rebels as one of the 45 best teams in the country before Dan Mullen’s second season begins.
Chris Vannini ranked UNLV No. 44 in his preseason ranking of all 138 FBS programs, placing the Rebels between San Diego State at No. 43 and Arizona State at No. 45. Memphis, UNLV’s opponent Saturday at Allegiant Stadium, is No. 62.
That makes UNLV the second-highest-ranked team in the current Mountain West, behind only New Mexico at No. 41. It also makes the Rebels the sixth-highest-ranked Group of Six program in Vannini’s list. Boise State leads that group at No. 21, followed by Navy at No. 25, New Mexico, James Madison, San Diego State and UNLV.
The ranking is not an official poll, but it gives another measure of how differently UNLV is viewed after winning 30 games in three seasons and reaching three consecutive Mountain West championship games. Three years ago, getting UNLV into the national conversation was part of the story. Now the question is how high the Rebels belong.
Vannini has them ahead of 10 of the 12 teams on their regular-season schedule. California, ranked No. 37, and New Mexico are the only two opponents above UNLV. Memphis is 18 spots behind the Rebels, followed by Hawai‘i at No. 67, North Dakota State at No. 71 and North Texas at No. 88.
The rest of the schedule falls considerably lower. Air Force is No. 105, Akron No. 123, Nevada No. 125, San Jose State No. 127, Wyoming No. 128 and Northern Illinois No. 131.
That does not make the schedule easy, but it changes the expectation. UNLV is no longer entering most weeks hoping to prove it belongs with the opponent across from it. If Vannini’s ranking is close to correct, the Rebels should spend most of the season as the team expected to win.
UNLV finished 10-4 last season during Mullen’s first year despite replacing most of the roster. The Rebels shared the Mountain West regular-season title and reached the conference championship game for the third straight year, but Boise State again ended their run short of a league championship.
Boise State is gone now, but the standard did not leave with it. New Mexico beginning three spots ahead of UNLV is a reminder that the rebuilt Mountain West is not automatically Mullen’s conference. Vannini noted that the Lobos won nine games during Jason Eck’s first season and return several of their top players.
No. 44 still requires Vannini to trust another UNLV rebuild. Anthony Colandrea is gone after producing more than 4,000 yards of total offense last season. Jackson Arnold and Alex Orji are expected to play at quarterback, while UNLV also replaced its top four receivers, moved Austin Boyd to center and added new pieces throughout the offensive line, linebacker room and secondary.
There is still plenty of individual talent. Jai’Den Thomas gives UNLV a proven running back after rushing for 1,036 yards last season. Boyd is a preseason All-Mountain West selection, Taeshaun Lyons gives the rebuilt receiver room a returning big-play threat and Jake Pope is back after starting every game in the secondary.
What UNLV does not have yet is evidence that all of the new combinations work together. That is part of what Vannini is betting on.
His one-sentence assessment of UNLV centered on the same question surrounding the offense. After Mullen took the Rebels back to the Mountain West championship game in his first season, Vannini asked whether he could pull off another successful quarterback rehabilitation with Arnold.
The Rebels have repeatedly lost important players without allowing the program to collapse. Barry Odom left after 2024, Mullen took over, replaced most of the roster and still won 10 games. Quarterbacks have changed, offensive systems have changed and large parts of the roster have changed. The standard has held.
No. 44 assumes it holds again, and it is a stronger evaluation than UNLV received from the two major preseason polls. The Rebels remained outside the AP Top 25 with four points and received 17 points in the preseason coaches poll. Vannini’s ranking also puts them ahead of several power-conference programs, including Arizona State, Kansas State, Virginia Tech, NC State, Florida State, Wisconsin, Baylor, Nebraska and Duke. The Athletic’s list places all of those programs between Nos. 45 and 59.
None of those comparisons will matter much after games start, and Memphis gets the first chance to make No. 44 look too high. The Tigers enter at No. 62 after changing coaches and rebuilding much of the roster. Vannini pointed to Charles Huff’s previous success at Marshall and Southern Miss while identifying former highly regarded recruit Air Noland as one of the players competing at quarterback.
UNLV has more continuity, but its biggest changes came at quarterback, receiver and along the offensive line. That makes Saturday a quick test of whether the 18-place difference between the teams on a preseason ranking actually exists on the field.
The Athletic sees UNLV as one of the better Group of Six teams in the country, ahead of almost everyone on its schedule and good enough to contend for the Mountain West championship. That is no longer an unusual place to put the Rebels.
Saturday is their first chance to prove it is the right one.
Read The Athletic’s full preseason ranking:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7529675/2026/08/24/college-football-team-rankings-fbs-preseason-138/?unlocked_article_code=1.71A.Wonw.YBZpBCt-5G8B&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta
