Las Vegas Sportsbooks Still High On The UNLV Rebels Football Despite Offseason Turnover

Despite all the changes and turnover the UNLV Rebels football team has faced this offseason, Las Vegas doesn't see much regression for the team in 2025. While like most, they admit this is a tough team predict, they still are mostly optimistic about what new head coach Dan Mullen can do with his talented roster. A new coach and a roster built through the transfer portal is always going to raise questions, but most believe in both this regime and program.

This is reflected in the Rebels being 25.5 point favorites in their Week 0 season opener against the Idaho State Bengals. Leading into the season, Oddsmaker Ed Salmon of Westgate Superbook, CBS Sportsline handicapper Bruce Marshall, and Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito all gave their takes on UNLV in 2025.

Westgate Superbook's Take

“UNLV is kind of like modern-day college football in that you look at the turnover from last year’s team to this year’s team, it’s incredible. It’s basically a whole new team. A lot of people are down on UNLV just because it’s a new team, and they say they’re going to regress. But from the players that they got from these blue bloods, it sounds like they could be every bit as good as they were last year...

It’s a fairly easy schedule, and I think that gives them a chance to succeed. I always liked Dan Mullen. I thought he was a really good coach at Mississippi State, then I don’t know what happened at Florida. I’m just going to chalk it up to weird times with COVID.”

CBS Sportsline's Take

“I’m just not sure they’re going to pick up where they left off. I find UNLV a very tricky read because it’s basically a new team. It’s all portal. While full-on reloads via the portal can occasionally work, a la Colorado, it’s not easy throwing a team together on short notice, and many of the Rebs’ new faces, especially on defense, didn’t shine in their previous locales.”

Red Rock Resort Sportsbook's Take

“That is the biggest line move on the board in Week Zero. The success they’ve had the last couple of years has really carried over, and bringing in Mullen as head coach. From the fans’ side of it, we’re super excited about it. From the business side of it, it’s win but just don’t cover.”