Fresno State Bulldogs at UNLV Runnin Rebels Pick – ATS Predictions

The Boys from The Valley a.k.a the Fresno State Bulldogs (7-1) will hit the road and travel to Sin City to take on the Nevada-Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels (2-6) in a Mountain West Conference clash. The kick-off time is set for 10:30 PM ET and will be televised on CBS Sports Network live from Sam Boyd Stadium. Despite Fresno State riding the hot hand with a No. 19 ranking this week, the Rebels have been the team to beat in this series as they have won three of the last four meetings. Most recently in 2017, UNLV pulled all an outright upset of Fresno State in its own house as a 22-point underdog when they defeated the Bulldogs 26-16.

Fresno State Bulldogs at UNLV Runnin’ Rebels Overview

Fresno State Bulldogs

The Bulldogs come into this contest soaring, winning six straight victories after losing their sole defeat this season at the hands of the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Twin Cities in early September when we saw Fresno State offered as a pick-em. Since then, Fresno State has blown out everything it has come across defeating five or their last six assailed by at least 20 points.

UNLV Runnin’ Rebels

The Rebels come into this contest known as the team that lost to the team that hasn’t won a game yet this season. This is an allusion to the allegory of the San Jose State Spartans and their triumphant victory over UNLV last week at home when they hung 50 on the Rebels and covering as the chalk in the contest. A loss of this caliber will automatically make takers avoid UNLV like the plague.

Reasons To Avoid Fresno State

The Bulldogs now have a larger target on their back with a ranking next to their name. This season, we have seen many teams have difficulty dealing with being ranked for the first time on the campaign. Look no further than how Arizona State, Boston College, Cincinnati, and Texas Tech fared when they emerged on the national radar. All of them lost. We are not implying that this will happen here, but there is an excellent chance that Fresno State may have to tug on its collar and find itself in a scare.

Reasons To Back UNLV

Given the contrasting performances of both teams as a whole, you can expect to pay a premium to back Fresno State here but on the contrary, expect to take back an inflated number here on the hosts. This is where we step in as backing UNLV is a great way to take advantage of an overlay.