UNLV’s College Football Playoff odds continue to rise with another win in Week 5 over Fresno State
It was an interesting week for the UNLV Rebels, seeing starting quarterback Matthew Sluka leave the program over NIL issues. With a 3-0 record, it was shocking to see a player make that decision.
But it didn’t matter for the Rebels, at least right away.
They responded with a 59-14 thrashing of Fresno State to move to 4-0 and stay unbeaten this season so far. And they did so in convincing fashion with quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for another in their conference opener. It was a flat out dominating performance on both sides of the football by the Rebels, coming up big in their first conference game of the season.
The win also improved UNLV’s chances at the College Football Playoff.
With the highest-ranked champion from the Mountain West, American Athletic Conference, Sun Belt, Mid-American Conference or Conference USA being selected, it gives a program like UNLV the chance to make it in. They would be a dangerous No. 12 seed as the Mountain West Champion, ready to face a No. 5 seed who did not win their conference but got in based on rankings.
And now through five weeks, ESPN experts are putting the Rebels in their projections.
Of the 13 analysts that make their projections, 10 of them have the Rebels as the No. 12 seed. The other three had James Madison or Boise State in it instead.
Andy Staples of ON3 had UNLV as the Group of 5 representative:
The Rebels made the biggest off-the-field news last week when quarterback Matthew Sluka left the team over an NIL dispute. I wondered at the time whether UNLV officials were OK letting Sluka walk because they didn’t think he was that much better than backup Hajj-Malik Williams, who transferred from Campbell and who worked with the first team all spring and summer. It turns out the offense worked great under Williams, who completed 13 of 16 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns and ran 12 times for 119 yards and a touchdown in a 59-14 win against Fresno State that also featured a pick-six and a blocked punt that UNLV scooped up for a touchdown.
The Rebels responded to their QB1 leaving by rallying around the new QB1 and playing their best all-around game. No one was happier than star receiver Ricky White III, who caught 10 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns after combining for five catches for 15 yards in UNLV’s two FBS wins with Sluka playing.
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports did NOT have UNLV in his updated projections, instead going with Boise State as the Mountain West winner. He has UNLV playing in the Los Angeles Bowl against Cal.
UNLV’s path to the College Football Playoff
UNLV’s path is pretty simple, honestly. As explained above, their shot is to be the highest-ranked Group of 5 champions and would be slotted in as the No. 12 seed. That’s it.
UNLV’s schedule is something that isn’t strong enough to get them ranked higher than power five programs, which really limits their options for this new format.
Their competition to reach this No. 1 seed would be Boise State, Army, Navy, Liberty, and James Madison as it stands right now. The best thing for UNLV to do is to win out and make a strong case. That continues this week when they face off against ACC foe Syracuse.
