The UNLV Rebels 'Have To Win' Against The UCLA Bruins Week 2

The UNLV Rebels football team kicks off their non-conference schedule in Week 0 on August 23 against the Idaho State Bengals. This game has gotten headlines because it was forced to be moved due to a scheduling conflict with the Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford Super Fight in the Rebels' home field of Allegiant Stadium on September 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, when the schedule initially came out, that was not the non-conference game that everyone was circling. Their biggest non-conference matchup this year will come against the UCLA Bruins at home on September 6.

A matchup with a big-name team like UCLA from a Power 4 conference like the Big Ten is a huge opportunity to show that they belong in the conversation with the bigger schools when it comes to things like the AP Top 25 rankings and the College Football Playoffs. If UNLV loses this game, you can essentially eliminate them from the playoff picture before their season even really gets started. This is why Mountain West Connection framed this game as a must-win game.

Mountain West Connection's Take

"A home game against UCLA highlights the Rebels non-conference schedule. Getting the Bruins on the schedule at Allegiant is huge for UNLV and it should be a winnable game. I would go as far as saying the Rebels have to win this game. UCLA is not very good and losing that game would take the wind out of the sails of a program that has a lot of positive momentum. The rest of the schedule lacks anything exciting, and a loss against Idaho State, Sam Houston State, or Miami (Ohio) would be devastating. Moving forward, the Rebels need to focus on getting some PAC 12 and American games on the schedule."

We agree that if the Rebels want to have any shot of accomplishing their ultimate goal of competing in the College Football Playoffs that they have to win this game. Losing to one of those lesser teams would actually be less damaging than losing to the Bruins. Nevertheless, it's still a non-conference game, and UNLV could still go on to win the Mountain West Conference with this having no impact on their path from that standpoint. So, this is a big game if you are hoping that they can reach their highest hopes, but for anyone focused on winning the Mountain West, this is just another game.