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Justin M. Bowen
Players sing the UNLV school song after the team’s annual spring game in April at Sam Boyd Stadium.
Published Tuesday, July 21, 2009 | 11:47 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, July 21, 2009 | 12:59 p.m.
It was no surprise that TCU grabbed 15 of 24 first-place votes in the Mountain West Conference's preseason poll, but UNLV landing in fifth turned some heads.
The Rebels, who return several key pieces off of last season's 5-7 squad -- which started the year 3-1 with wins over then-ranked Arizona State and Iowa State -- received 108 points in the media poll. That's one point ahead of Colorado State, who was picked sixth after winning the New Mexico Bowl and finishing 7-6 a year ago.
This is the highest the Rebels have been picked since 2004, when they were tied for fifth with BYU in the preseason poll. The Rebels highest slot ever in the preseason poll was back in 2001, when they were predicted to finish second.
BYU came in second, grabbing six first-place votes, while Utah took the other three and is predicted to finish third.
Air Force comes in one spot ahead of the Rebels, while Mike Sanford's club is followed by CSU, New Mexico, San Diego State and Wyoming, respectively.
"I'm enouraged that the media sees there's progress in the program," Sanford said. "On the other side of the scale, it doesn't mean anything. It's all about what we do on the field. However, I'm very excited about our football team."
UNLV opens its season on Sept. 5 at home against Sacramento State.
For full coverage of MWC media day today and tomorrow, stay tuned to lasvegassun.com.
Just once it would be nice to see the city rally around the rebs this year! WIN OR LOOSE! Its called being a fan!WIN OR LOOSE!
One last thing, it would prob be better if the feild was on the campus grounds,instead of out in the middle of no where?
Hopefully rumrunner is not an alumnus of UNLV's English program.
UCLA doesn't have an on-campus stadium and the Bruins can still play good football. The location of the Silver Bowl is a weak excuse for poor fan support.
I don't see the big difference an on campus stadium makes, kids are pretty mobile these days and can find rides to the game.
Then again my favorite college football team is Cal-Berkeley, a great combination of top academics and good football at a much lower budget than Ohio State, USC,Texas or Florida.
Wait, Ocean, your favorite team does play in an on-campus stadium. Cal students can walk to Memorial Stadium or climb Tightwad Hill for a free view of the game. Admit it, it helps make for a great atmosphere -- even back in the day when the Bears were awful (pre-Tedford).
But don't sell those mobile Rebel fans short. Some of them throw a pretty fair tailgate party.
I can't wait for September 5th. I have been in San Diego the past three fall seasons and I am excited to be back home.
I will be going to every game no matter how the season goes. I am looking foward to it. I have been going to the games since 1982. I hope Las Vegas can rally behind our team and show some support.
We are returning a lot of exciting players. I am excited to see our incredible receiving core and the new faces at running back. If we can just get some support on the outside on defense, we should have a pretty good season.
We have 7 very winnable games on the schedule, but the games are played on the field. It's hard to play when there are 8,000 people in the stands. Show your support and go to the games. I live in Aliante, but that will not stop me.
UNLV diplomas:
http://tinyurl.com/3e2x7d
Hopefully the team will be good enough to get the students to come in from the tailgates.