Where will UNLV play its bowl game? Depends on whom you ask
Now that we know where UNLV’s football team isn’t going, it becomes a guessing game as to where the Rebels will enjoy their postseason experience.
The Rebels fell to Boise State 38-21 for the Mountain West championship Friday night at Albertsons Stadium in Idaho, the third straight year they have lost to the Broncos in the title game.
Afterward, UNLV coach Dan Mullen was more interested in talking about his team than where the Rebels are headed.
“I have a weird answer that I’ll give you in this current moment,” he said. “Because right now it sucks. Losing sucks. It absolutely sucks. But I’d categorize this year with this team as a lot of fun. They were a lot of fun to be around. I’ve really enjoyed coaching this group.
“We have a lot of characters on this team. They’re a wild crew. But it was a lot of fun for me to have this crew believe and buy in to what we were trying to do. You look at Boise — hopefully we get there program-wise — where I think they had more returning starters than we had returning roster members.”
UNLV (10-3) will learn its bowl destination Sunday at a news conference at Allegiant Stadium before the Raiders host the Denver Broncos. The Las Vegas Bowl matchup also will be announced then.
No consensus on UNLV
As it has been all season, those making bowl predictions differ on where UNLV will end up.
Some have the Rebels in the Arizona Bowl on Dec. 27 in Tucson.
Others have them going to the First Responders Bowl in Dallas on Dec. 26, a game Mountain West teams have played in four times.
There is also one prediction of the Texas Bowl against TCU in Houston on Dec. 27.
Wherever his team plays, Mullen will cherish the moment in his first year as the Rebels’ coach.
“I don’t think we had a bad day,” he said. “We had some bad practices, but we didn’t have a bad day. There wasn’t a day where I don’t think everyone loved being around each other and loved being part of this team.”
Seven MW teams bowl eligible
Boise State (9-4) is most likely headed to the LA Bowl, which isn’t required to choose the Mountain West champion but is expected to. Most bowl predictions have the Broncos playing Washington at SoFi Stadium.
The conference has seven bowl eligible teams, and some are easier to figure out than others. It appears Hawaii and New Mexico will remain home to play in their respective bowls.
Utah State is expected to be in Boise for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
