UNLV in elite company with spotless record against spread

Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State and UNLV.

At first glance, UNLV doesn’t appear to belong in the same sentence with those perennial college football powers. But when it comes to cashing tickets this season, it clearly belongs.

They’re the only Football Bowl Subdivision schools still unbeaten and untied against the spread as the Sooners are 6-0 ATS and the Rebels, Ducks and Nittany Lions are each 5-0 ATS (Rutgers is 5-0-1 ATS).

That’s impressive for a UNLV team that has produced only one winning record in the past 22 seasons (7-6 in 2013) and is 104-117-6 ATS since 2004.

“There’s no question they’re exceeding expectations,” Westgate SuperBook director John Murray said. “The fact that they’re undefeated against the point spread, that tells you all you need to know.

“Give UNLV a lot of credit. The coaching staff has done a terrific job. This is the best UNLV team I can remember.”

The Rebels are 4-1 straight up in their first season under former Missouri coach Barry Odom. They’ve scored 40 points or more in each of their wins and are tied for 21st in the nation in scoring with 36.0 points per game.

UNLV beat Bryant 44-14 as a 17-point favorite in its season opener before covering as a 37½-point underdog at Michigan in a 35-7 defeat. The Rebels then outlasted Vanderbilt 40-37 as 4½-point home underdogs and ran past Texas-El Paso 45-28 as 1-point road underdogs. They hammered Hawaii 44-20 as 11-point favorites Sept. 30 at Allegiant Stadium before going on their bye week.

UNLV will try to keep its perfect spread record intact Saturday — and maintain possession of the Fremont Cannon — as a 9-point favorite at UNR in their annual instate rivalry game. The line opened at 9 and the Rebels shot up to 10-point favorites at the SuperBook before sharp money on the Wolf Pack drove the line back down.

“I guess the thought from our wiseguys here is that the market finally overreacted or caught up to UNLV,” Murray said. “We did see some sharp money on (UNR) this week.”

The Wolf Pack are mired in a 15-game losing streak, but they’ve covered three straight games and are riding a 3-0 cover run against UNLV, which beat UNR 27-22 last year.

Despite the Rebels’ spread streak, Murray said he hasn’t seen a significant increase in betting handle, or amount wagered, on UNLV.

“The Rebels are always pretty popular, but it’s tough when you play on Saturday and there are so many other games like USC-Notre Dame and Oregon-Washington,” he said. “They play Wyoming on a Friday night in a few weeks (on Nov. 10). As they get into isolated games and higher profile games, I expect the volume to go up.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.