UNLV +11 (-110) over Kansas
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- Kansas had a mediocre season in Big 12 play and they should struggle here against an opponent that made its conference title game.
- UNLV is much better than they showed down the stretch in the Mountain West and they will showcase that in their bowl game.
The Guaranteed Rate Bowl has only been around in name for a couple of years. But it has existed in other names for a long time, making it a great tradition in the college football bowl schedule, whether fans can recognize it or not. Here, we take a look at the upcoming Guaranteed Rate Bowl and look back at the history of this bowl game as well.
2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl Analysis
This year’s Guaranteed Rate Bowl presents an interesting matchup between the UNLV Rebels and Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas comes into this game with an 8-4 record, but with a mediocre 5-4 record in Big 12 play. The question for Kansas will be whether or not they can elevate their level once again against a non-conference opponent, after they went 3-0 against non-conference foes to start the year.
Meanwhile, the UNLV Rebels went 9-4, but will regret things not going better for them leading up to bowl season. UNLV lost its last two games before bowl season, including the Mountain West title game at home against Boise State. Whether or not they get up for this game remains to be seen, as they suffered a devastating end to the regular season.
Guaranteed Rate Bowl History
The Guaranteed Rate Bowl started out as the Copper Bowl and was first contested in 1989. Since then, this game has been played as the Insight Bowl, the Cactus Bowl, the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, and other names. Below is a list of the games that have been played during the history of this game, before and during its time as the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, which became the name of this contest in 2021.
| Year | Winners | Runners-Up |
| 1989 | Arizona | NC State |
| 1990 | California | Wyoming |
| 1991 | Indiana | Baylor |
| 1992 | Washington State | Utah |
| 1993 | Kansas State | Wyoming |
| 1994 | BYU | Oklahoma |
| 1995 | Texas Tech | Air Force |
| 1996 | Wisconsin | Utah |
| 1997 | Arizona | New Mexico |
| 1998 | Missouri | West Virginia |
| 1999 | Colorado | Boston College |
| 2000 | Iowa State | Pittsburgh |
| 2001 | Syracuse | Kansas State |
| 2002 | Pittsburgh | Oregon State |
| 2003 | California | Virginia Tech |
| 2004 | Oregon State | Notre Dame |
| 2005 | Arizona State | Rutgers |
| 2006 | Texas Tech | Minnesota |
| 2007 | Oklahoma State | Indiana |
| 2008 | Kansas | Minnesota |
| 2009 | Iowa State | Minnesota |
| 2010 | Iowa | Missouri |
| 2011 | Oklahoma | Iowa |
| 2012 | Michigan State | TCU |
| 2013 | Kansas State | Michigan |
| 2014 | Oklahoma State | Washington |
| 2015 | West Virginia | Arizona State |
| 2016 | Baylor | Boise State |
| 2017 | Kansas State | UCLA |
| 2018 | TCU | California |
| 2019 | Air Force | Washington State |
| 2021 | Minnesota | West Virginia |
| 2022 | Wisconsin | Oklahoma State |
Bowl Game MVPs
During the extensive history of the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, an offensive and defensive MVP has been named every year. In most cases, both of these players come from the winning team, though that has not always been the case. Among those MVPs have been several memorable professional football players, including Drew Bledsoe and Aaron Rodgers. Below is the full list of offensive and defensive MVPs for this annual bowl game.
| Year | Offensive MVP (Team) | Defensive MVP (Team) |
| 1989 | Shane Montgomery (NC State) | Scott Geyer (Arizona) |
| 1990 | Mike Pawlawski (California) | Robert Midgett (Wyoming) |
| 1991 | Vaughn Dunbar (Indiana) | Hark Hagen (Indiana) |
| 1992 | Drew Bledsoe (Washington State) | Kareem Leary (Utah) |
| 1993 | Andre Coleman (Kansas State) | Kenny McEntyre (Kansas State) |
| 1994 | Jamal Willis (BYU) | Broderick Simpson (Oklahoma) |
| 1995 | Zebbie Lethridge (Texas Tech) | Mickey Dalton (Air Force) |
| 1996 | Ron Dayne (Wisconsin) | Tarek Saleh (Wisconsin) |
| 1997 | Trung Candidate (Arizona) | Jimmy Sprotte (Arizona) |
| 1998 | Marc Bulger (West Virginia) | Jeff Marriott (Missouri) |
| 1999 | Cortlen Johnson (Colorado) | Jashon Sykes (Colorado) |
| 2000 | Sage Rosenfels (Iowa State) | Reggie Hayward (Iowa State) |
| 2001 | James Mungro (Syracuse) | Clifton Smith (Syracuse) |
| 2002 | Brandon Miree (Pittsburgh) | Claude Harriott (Pittsburgh) |
| 2003 | Aaron Rodgers (California) | Ryan Gutierrez (California) |
| 2004 | Derek Anderson (Oregon State) | Trent Bray (Oregon State) |
| 2005 | Rudy Carpenter (Arizona State) | Jamar Williams (Arizona State) |
| 2006 | Graham Harrell (Texas Tech) | Antonio Huffman (Texas Tech) |
| 2007 | Zac Robinson (Oklahoma State) | Donovan Woods (Oklahoma State) |
| 2008 | Dezmon Briscoe (Kansas) | James Holt (Kansas) |
| 2009 | Alexander Robinson (Iowa State) | Christopher Lyle (Iowa State) |
| 2010 | Marcus Coker (Iowa) | Micah Hyde (Iowa) |
| 2011 | Blake Bell (Oklahoma) | Jameel Fleming (Oklahoma) |
| 2012 | Le’Veon Bell (Michigan State) | William Gholston (Michigan State) |
| 2013 | Tyler Lockett (Kansas State) | Dante Barnett (Kansas State) |
| 2014 | Desmond Roland (Oklahoma State) | Seth Jacobs (Oklahoma State) |
| 2015 | Skyler Howard (West Virginia) | Shaq Petteway (West Virginia) |
| 2016 | KD Cannon (Baylor) | Tyrone Hunt (Baylor) |
| 2017 | Alex Delton (Kansas State) | Denzel Goolsby (Kansas State) |
| 2018 | Sewo Olonilua (TCU) | Jaylinn Hawkins (California) |
| 2019 | Kadin Remsberg (Air Force) | Grant Donaldson (Air Force) |
| 2021 | Ky Thomas (Minnesota) | Tyler Nubin (Minnesota) |
| 2022 | Braelon Allen (Wisconsin) | Jordan Turner (Wisconsin) |
