The 59th season in UNLV Rebels history is just about locked in.
On Monday, the Mountain West released their tentative conference-wide schedule, with the Rebels now having a more clear idea about when they are playing their opponents this season.
The action begins when the Rebels star in Week Zero for the second consecutive season, facing the Memphis Tigers at Allegiant Stadium on Aug. 29 for the first time ever in a battle of contenders from the Group of Five.
The Rebels will then tie their program record for earliest conference action when they head to Honolulu on Sept. 5 to face the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors in the Ninth Island Showdown to defend the Golden Pineapple.
The road trip continues for the Rebels from there, with trips to North Texas (Sept. 12) and Akron (Sept. 26) sandwiching the first of two bye weeks.
When the Rebels return to Allegiant Stadium, they will find two first-time visitors waiting for them. The first will be the only power conference opponent on the docket for UNLV, when the California Golden Bears hope to get revenge for the 2024 LA Bowl on Oct. 3. From a power conference team to a FCS call-up, the Rebels then fact the newest member of the Mountain West when the North Dakota State Bison arrive in Las Vegas on Oct. 10.
After a road matchup against Air Force on Oct. 17, the Rebels get their second bye week of the season before facing another first-year Mountain West foe in the Northern Illinois Huskies on Halloween.
From there, UNLV runs the November gauntlet of conference rivals. The Wyoming Cowboys start the month at Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 7, followed by road games against New Mexico (Nov. 14) and San Jose State (Nov. 21). Finally, the season concludes with the traditional Silver State Series against the in-state rival Nevada Wolf Pack on Nov. 28 in Las Vegas, where the Rebels will hope to keep the Fremont Cannon painted in scarlet and grey for the fifth consecutive year.
“Very excited about this year’s schedule," said UNLV head coach Dan Mullen. "We have some great home games for not just the UNLV faithful but also for all sports fans in the Las Vegas area. I can’t wait until we break attendance records at Allegiant Stadium with this year’s team.”
While the schedule release is an exciting development, it is important to know that the schedule is not finalized yet.
The Mountain West’s national television partners will now begin a selection procedure of the games within the conference, so select games could potentially be moved to Fridays. Once those are decided, network outlets and kickoff times will be revealed in the second phase of the schedule release, which is expected to occur in May.
Against this schedule, the Rebels will hope to not only secure their fourth consecutive visit to the Mountain West Football Championship Game in December, but win their first conference title for the first time since they were a member of the Big West in 1994.