ESPN taps UNLV college football’s most interesting team

ESPN’s Bill Connelly released his list of the most interesting teams in college football and the Rebels have made the list.

After the hiring on Dan Mullen and the departure of Barry Odom to the Purdue Boilermakers, the UNLV Rebels look to make an exciting run in the Mountain West Conference again this upcoming season.

On one hand, the Rebels lost the coach (Odom) that helped build their program into the impressive program that it is today but with the hiring of a successful coach like Mullen, there’s a certain optimism.

The Rebels had a strong recruiting class, that’s a clear sign of intrigue on a national level with UNLV.

Bill Connelly spoke on the possible outcomes for this season and turnover with the program that makes them an interesting choice for college football.

Connelly said, “The Rebels lost the head coach responsible for two of their three winning seasons in the past 24 years (Purdue-bound Barry Odom*), and most of the players who had anything to do with that rise are gone, too. Their SP+ rating was 24.3 points higher than their 20-year average last season, which all but screams “REGRESSION FORTHCOMING.” … Damned if they don’t remain intriguing, however.”

Connelly also mentioned that UNLV could be a strong college football contender, but they still face financial problems.

“Mullen, usually a pretty good politician, is saying all the right things about UNLV’s facilities and potential. UNLV is acting like a power-conference program, and while debt could become a problem in the long term, this approach is going to be fascinating in the short term,” Connelly said.