Guaranteed Rate Bowl point spread: Picking Kansas Jayhawks vs. UNLV Rebels
Kansas is bowling for the second straight season as the Jayhawks are set to face UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. It’s quite the accomplishment for coach Lance Leipold and the program, which hasn’t made consecutive bowl games in 15 years.
Now the Jayhawks will aim for their first bowl win since 2008 after falling in a triple-overtime thriller to Arkansas in last season’s Liberty Bowl. They enter the contest as 12.5-point favorites according to FanDuel, which also has the over/under at 64.5.
How to watch Kansas vs. UNLV
Time: 8 p.m. CT on Dec. 26
Channel: ESPN, FuboTV (streaming)
Location: Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona
Kansas managed to finish this season 8-4 for its first winning record in more than a decade despite suffering some adversity early in the year. Starting quarterback Jalon Daniels suffered a back injury early in the year and missed all but three games.
Jason Bean has stepped up in Daniels’ place to throw for 1,681 yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions this season. The Jayhawks offense mostly runs behind a ground game that ranks ninth in the country with 211.3 yards per game. Running backs Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr. are both capable of big games with a combined 23 touchdowns between them.
KU will be without its offensive coordinator in this game as Andy Kotelnicki left for the same role at Penn State. As On3‘s Andy Staples explained in his Tuesday podcast, however, he expects explosive offenses to be on display on both sides of this game.
“This is a Jason Bean game,” Staples said. “Jalon Daniels coming back for another year at Kansas but out for the rest of this season. He’ll be playing for Jeff Grimes now. Former Baylor OC and former BYU OC. He replaces Andy Kotelnicki, who is gone to Penn State.
“UNLV had a couple of coaches that were very popular names during the coaching carousel, but they are still there. Barry Odom, the head coach, was named in the mix for a couple of jobs. Brennan Marion, their offensive coordinator, was in the mix for a couple of jobs. Brennan Marion has that very exciting go-go offense.”
In his first year as the Rebels coach, Odom directed UNLV to its highest win total (9) since 1984. The Rebels are in a bowl game for the first time since 2013 and are in search of their first bowl win since 2000.
UNLV’s offense ranked 23rd in the country with 34.3 points per game. That helped the Rebels to reach the Mountain West Conference Championship for the first time in program history, where they lost to Boise State.
Quarterback Jayden Maiava runs the show with 2,794 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions. They also employ a three-man backfield with Vincent Davis, Jai’Den Thomas and Donavyn Lester to average 179.5 rushing yards per game.
Staples likes the style of Marion’s system, picking UNLV to cover the 12.5-point spread against Kansas.
“You know how much I love the offenses like the one Jamey Chadwell runs at Liberty and also the one Brennan Marion runs at UNLV,” he said. “They’re not the same, but they mix triple option principles with a spread passing game and they are super fun to watch. This one should be a blast because the Kansas offense is fun too. You’re gonna give me all those points and the go-go offense? I’m taking the Rebels.”