Predicting UNLV Football’s Non-Conference Schedule To Open The 2025 Season

UNLV kicks off the 2025 season with a challenging non-conference slate—here’s how we predict the Rebels will fare in each of their four early matchups.

The UNLV Rebels celebrate after defeating the California Golden Bears in the LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The UNLV Rebels football schedule is out and they start off the season with a tough non-conference schedule. Their first four games are sure to see them get battle tested before they start their Mountain West Conference schedule in October. First they will have to get through the first month before they can get to conference play though. These are their four non-conference games and how we predict they turn out. 

UNLV at Sam Houston Bearkats (Aug. 30)

The Rebels season opener on the road at Sam Houston is no walk in the park. This is a tough game to start on. Especially for a team with a lot of new pieces that could still be trying to figure things out and build chemistry at this point in the season. The Bearkats finished tied for second place in Conference USA last season with an overall record of 10 - 3 and a record of 6 - 2 in conference play. While Sam Houston may not be a big name school, we expect them to play the Rebels tough on their home field. Still, UNLV should be able to pull off a tight victory that will be too close for comfort for a Week 1 matchup. 

UNLV Vs. UCLA Bruins (Sept. 6)

UCLA may be a more well known school in a Power 5 conference, but we are more confident in this game. The Bruins struggled last season finishing tied for 12th place with four other teams in the Big 10. Their overall record was 5 - 7 and they went 3 - 6 in their conference. While we might be a bit more concerned if this game was in Los Angeles, we don't see them coming to Las Vegas and leaving with a victory.  

UNLV Vs. Idaho State Bengals (Sept. 13)

Even on the road, this game should be the easiest of the four non-conference matchups in 2025. The Bengals only managed to finish tied for sixth with four teams in the Big Sky in 2024. They haven't done anything that makes us think they have significantly improved. At this point the Rebels should be starting to hit their stride and will mow over Idaho State in a laugher.

UNLV at Miami (OH) Redhawks (Sept. 20)

This is another tough game on the road. The schedule makers did UNLV no favors with this non-conference schedule. The Redhawks tied for first in the MAC last year with a 7 - 1 conference record while finishing 9 - 5 overall. This is probably the toughest of the four games. We do believe the Rebels can pull it off, but it may be a toss up that is decided by a field goal or less. 

---

While we do think the Rebels should win all these games, no one should be surprised if they end up dropping one or even two. This could be a team that needs a few weeks to find its footing under new head coach Dan Mullen who could still be figuring out his quarterback situation early in the season. There is no doubt all these games are worth watching and we'd expect UNLV to be the favorites in Vegas for most if not all of these games.