UNLV
0-1 L3 · Cooling
Hawai'i
0-1 L1 · Mixed
2:00 AM · Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex

UNLV (0-1) travels to Hawai'i (0-1), with UNLV (0-1) favored by 3.

This is Ninth Island Showdown — see the full head-to-head history →

What’s at stake

Make the CFP field

Hawai'i · 1%1% → ▲1% if win1% → ▼0% if loss
UNLV · 2%2% → ▲2% if win2% → ▼1% if loss

Win the conference

Hawai'i · 21%21% → ▲27% if win21% → ▼13% if loss
UNLV · 30%30% → ▲39% if win30% → ▼22% if loss

Win it all

Hawai'i · 0%0% → ▲0% if win0% → ▼0% if loss
UNLV · 0%0% → ▲0% if win0% → ▼0% if loss

CFP odds as of September 5, 2026

See this week’s biggest postseason implications ›

The series

The series is tied 16-16

32 meetings since 1974 · UNLV has won the last 3

  • 2025UNLV 38–10
  • 2024UNLV 29–27
  • 2023UNLV 44–20
  • 2022Hawai'i 31–25
  • 2021UNLV 27–13

Face-off

What each fanbase carries into this one.

Ninth Island Showdownwinner takes the Island Showdown Trophy

UNLV

The chip · vs the national media

Rebels fans are tired of being treated as a novelty act — the casino-town team nobody took seriously. They'll tell you UNLV has been one of the best stories in the Group of Five for three years running, even if the rankings keep forgetting.

What this game touches

The title game keeps ending the same way. UNLV went 10-3 in Dan Mullen's first year, 2025, and reached the Mountain West championship game — only to lose 38-21 to Boise State, the Rebels' third straight title-game defeat to the Broncos, then fell to Ohio 17-10 in the Frisco Bowl. The program is good enough to get to the last game and hasn't yet been good enough to win it.

Hawai'i

The chip · vs the national media

Warrior fans are sick of being the road trip nobody wants and the time zone nobody watches — a program that has to win twice as convincingly to get half the respect, and knows the mainland forgets it exists by Sunday morning.

What this game touches

The 2008 Sugar Bowl blowout. The unbeaten 2007 dream — Colt Brennan, a No. 10 final ranking, the first non-BCS island team to crash the party — ended 41-10 against Georgia, a national stage that doubled as the doubters' favorite exhibit that the islands couldn't hang.

Best players

Hawai'i

  • Kona Moore (DB) · 14 tackles
  • Jamih Otis (LB) · 8 tackles
  • Matagi Thompson (DB) · 8 tackles

UNLV

  • Jake Pope (S) · 13 tackles
  • Cam Santee (LB) · 8 tackles
  • Jackson Arnold (QB) · 291 passing yards — Heisman odds: 109th (+40000)

The line, and the room

Hawai'i fans are feeling it more than most fanbases this week (51st percentile) — the mood matches the numbers.

  • Model · 72%
  • Market · 40%
  • Hawai'i fans · 51st
  • UNLV fans · 54th

Home +3 · O/U 55.5

Conditions

80°F · 21 mph wind · Fair

Home-field advantage: Elite

Hawai'i is 67% at home, 28% on the road since 2018 (36-18 home, 13-33 away).

Recent games

Hawai'i

  • Wk 1Lat Stanford27-37

UNLV

  • Wk 1Lvs Memphis21-27

Players to watch

Hawai'i

  • Kona Moore DB14 Tackles
  • Jamih Otis LB8 Tackles
  • Matagi Thompson DB8 Tackles
  • Micah Alejado QB269 Passing yards
  • Kainoa Carvalho WR72 Receiving yards

UNLV

  • Jake Pope S13 Tackles
  • Cam Santee LB8 Tackles
  • Jackson Arnold QB291 Passing yards
  • Tre Fulton DB6 Tackles
  • Kal-El Togafau DL5 Tackles

The market

Spread: +1.5 → +3

Book hold: 4.3%