Las Vegas Bowl Betting History

Sin City has played host to the Las Vegas Bowl since 1992, following the California Raisin Bowl’s transfer from Fresno the year prior.

Nevada and UNLV combined to make their home state college bowl game five times out of the first nine editions. The Wolfpack went 1-2, while the Runnin’ Rebels put up a perfect 2-0 record – but the Silver State has sent exactly zero teams to the Las Vegas Bowl during the 21st century. That’s a shame too, because after relocating from Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, the game has been held at Sam Boyd Stadium near the UNLV campus.

Both had their chances, though, as the game invited a top team from the Mountain West Conference to play a Pac-12 opponent every December from 2001 to 2016. Historically, the state of Utah has dominated the Mountain West, as evidenced by BYU, Utah and Utah State combining for a dozen appearances through the history of the Las Vegas Bowl.

In 1995 – the first year that overtime football was used to decide all bowl game ties – Toledo capped a perfect 10-0-1 season by nipping Nevada in a 40-37 overtime thriller. By 1996, the back-and-forth overtime system was adopted for all NCAA football games.

Ten of the games between 2005 and 2016 were decided by seven points or more, including seven blowouts of 20 or more points. Accordingly, favorites covered eight times over that span, but the spread surprisingly remained within 6.5 points or less in the final five.

Sin City will play host to the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Fresno State Bulldogs in this year’s Las Vegas Bowl. Check out our Las Vegas Bowl Game Center for odds, a free pick and handicapping info.