Welcome to the 2025 college football preseason
Offseason hibernation is over. The days are getting longer, but time is getting shorter until Ireland gets introduced to Farmaggedon. Now is the time to start learning about teams for the 2025 season, whether it’s the new QB for the reigning National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes or who has the best chance to win Conference-USA. This series will cover my top 100 preseason college football rankings for 2025 as we count down 100 days until Week 0. We will dive into a new team each day as we draw closer to the college football season.
Countdown to Kickoff: Day 84
Coming in at No. 84 in our 2025 preseason rankings: UNLV Rebels
UNLV is coached by Dan Mullen, who is in his 1st year with the program. The Rebels finished last year with a record of 11-3 and 2nd in the Mountain West.
UNLV returns 32% of production from the 2024 team: 34% on the Offense and 30% on the Defense. According to 247Sports, the Rebels finished the 2025 cycle with 18 recruits, landing the 97th overall ranked class, which ranked 6th in the Mountain West. Along with their high school recruiting, UNLV has brought in 42 players through the transfer portal and has a portal ranking of 71. 54% of the 2025 roster will be made up of new additions.
Offensive Coordinator Corey Dennis, heading into his 1st year with the program, will lead the offense that put up 32.5 points per game last season (27th nationally). The Rebels finished 2024 with 66.1 plays per game (92nd) and a pace of 26.9 seconds per play (80th). The offense averaged 42.8 runs (8th) for 227.3 per game (9th), along with 20.9 pass attempts (130th) for 171.2 yards per game (117th). The run-heavy offense had a 61%-39% run-pass play call split. The overall offensive success rate was 42%.
Up front, UNLV brings back 22% of its offensive line production from last year, with 0 clear-cut starters for 2025. With the departure of 2024 starting QB Hajj-Malik Williams, Anthony Colandrea and Alex Orji will compete for leadership of the offense. The starting quarterback will be tasked with improving the 40% pass success rate from 2024. In 2024, Williams finished with 1941 passing yards, a 19-5 touchdown-interception ratio, and averaged 27.68 fantasy points per game. In 75% of his starts, he scored at least 19.5 fantasy points, with 175 passing yards and one touchdown per game. He finished 2024 with a season high of 45 and a low of 5.8 fantasy points.
The Rebels return 29% of the receiving production in 2025, with 2 of the top receivers gone. In 2024, leading receiver Ricky White totaled 1041 yards, 11 touchdowns, 79 receptions, and averaged 19.17 fantasy points per game. In 75% of his starts, he scored at least 10.7 fantasy points, with a season high of 34.7 and a low of 3.1 fantasy points. His best game was against Fresno State, where he caught 10 passes for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Rebels will look to Daejon Reynolds and Jaden Bradley to step up.
The Rebels return 41% of the rushing production in 2025, with Jai’Den Thomas leading the room. Thomas’s skillset, mixed with the game script, led him to 164 carries, 918 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 11.8 fantasy points per game. He surpassed 5.8 fantasy points in 75% of his games.
UNLV enters 2025 with the 124th-ranked strength of schedule. The Rebels will have back-to-back home games in Weeks 2 and 3 along with Weeks 12 and 13.
Our model predicts a 8-4 record for the Rebels. Our model gives the team a 75+% win expectancy in 5 games, a 50-75% win expectancy in 5 games, a 25-49% win expectancy in 1 game, and a <25% win expectancy in 1 game.
According to their conference championship odds of +450 at DraftKings, the Rebels are predicted to finish 2nd in the Mountain West.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to return tomorrow as we continue the countdown with Team 83.
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Returning Production for all teams can be found at Punt and Rally
Stats for all players can be found at College Football Team Stats | TeamRankings.com
