UNLV Positioned For A Title Run In Final Season Of The Current Mountain West

This will be the last season for the Mountain West Conference before realignment next year when more than a third of the current teams leave for the new Pac-12. So this is a big season for everyone involved as far as pride and rivalries go.

A football team like the UNLV Rebels want to establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the Mountain West moving forward after two-straight championship game appearances, while the Boise State Broncos want to continue their dominance and ride their momentum into a Power 5 conference. There is a lot up in the air and a lot to talk about. Chris Murray of Nevada Sports Net (NSN) recently put out their rankings in their season preview and have UNLV ranked the third best team in the Mountain West. Here's why:

"UNLV will remain a title threat after lavishing the largest contract in conference history on Dan Mullen, who will make $3.5 million after going 103-61 at stops as Mississippi State and Florida. Mullen’s team lost 10 All-MW players but brought in a strong transfer class with quarterbacks Alex Orji (Michigan) and Anthony Colandrea (Virginia) battling for the starting job."

While this is a reasonable ranking, we still have to disagree with it. With Dan Mullen taking over the head coaching job, we don't expect as much of a drop off as you'd normally expect when a program loses it's coach to a bigger school like Barry Odom leaving for the Purdue Boilermakers.

The Rebels managed to bring in an established former SEC coach, survive an exodus to the transfer portal, and in turn do a great job reloading through the transfer portal themselves. While players like wide receiver Ricky White III, quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams, and linebacker Jackson Woodard will be tough to replace, a strong program always has players waiting for their opportunity to step up. Boise State is still the class of the conference, but we rank UNLV second in the Mountain West.

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