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Kansas v. UNLV:

David Mitchell: Jayhawks regroup David Mitchell: Runnin' Rebels aim to bounce back MP3 clip: Coach Mangino on UNLV play More audio: Big 12 Coaches' teleconference UNLV home page

This is the first-ever meeting between Kansas and UNLV. Against the Big 12, the Rebels have won just one game, defeating Baylor in 1999. UNLV has lost the other eight games it has played against the Big 12 (Baylor and Kansas State twice, Nebraska once and Iowa State three times).

Against teams in the Mountain West Conference, Kansas has compiled a 12-5-1 record. The most recent game was last year's season-ending win against Wyoming. The last meeting before that was the infamous 41-13 drubbing at the hands of San Diego State in 1999.

With eight wins and only one loss, UNLV Head Coach John Robinson has the highest bowl game winning percentage (.889) of any NCAA Division 1-A coach, ever (minimum eight appearances). Robinson is 9-3 against Big 12 teams during his tenures at UNLV and USC.

UNLV started as a satellite campus for the University of Nevada in 1957, and became Nevada Southern eight years later. In 1969, the Board of Regents made the school what it is today.

The "Rebel" mascot was chosen because the school was "rebelling" from the main University of Nevada campus. The original logo was a cartoon wolf in a Confederate army uniform, a take-off on the Wolf Pack mascot of the main university in Reno.

In the early 1970s, the student body voted to adopt a human-looking version, this time minus the official CSA regalia.

UNLV's first football team took the field in 1968, the last year it was Nevada Southern. They had a very successful opening season, going 8-1. They played in Division II, compiling an overall 71-36-1 record before moving up to Division I for the 1978 season.

As a D-1 team, UNLV owns a sub-.500 record, with 118 wins, 139 losses and three ties. However, in the 30 seasons they have played at Sam Boyd Stadium, they have compiled a 114-73-3 mark. The Rebels are coming off a 4-7 season, and a 27-7 loss to Wisconsin last week.

Former Rebel quarterback Jason Davis holds the NCAA record for most passing attempts, completions and yards in one quarter, connecting on 28 of 41 passes for 347 yards in just the fourth quarter against Idaho on September 17, 1994.

UNLV Strength coach Mark Philippi won the 1997 USA version of the "World's Strongest Man" competition.

No Kansans are on the UNLV roster. Neither are there any Nevada natives on KU's roster.

KU is 3-0 all-time against UNLV in basketball, and will travel west of the Rocky Mountains for the first time since a 45-42 loss to Utah in 1996 at Salt Lake City.