UNLV vs Air Force prediction, odds, pick for College Basketball
12/31/2024 02:09 AM
It’s time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a UNLV-Air Force prediction and pick. Find out how to watch UNLV-Air Force.
The UNLV Rebels have to win this game. They have been adrift as a college basketball program for the past several years, missing the NCAA Tournament and failing to recapture the glories and standards of their proud past. UNLV has become a largely irrelevant national program. The Rebels haven’t even been able to finish in the top half of the Mountain West most of the time in recent years. There is certainly some grumbling from the fan base, but apathy is as pervasive within UNLV basketball as anger is. The Rebels are stumbling in the dark, searching for both an identity and a long-term winning habit which translates into quality results and NCAA Tournament appearances. Losing this game to a lowly Air Force team which has already lost nine games this season would be the ultimate humiliation and simultaneously a death blow to UNLV’s at-large NCAA Tournament chances. UNLV lost to Memphis and fell in a few other games which wounded this team’s overall profile and created that much more of an uphill climb for coach Kevin Kruger’s team. It is only December, but UNLV already has zero margin for error and cannot afford falling to the team which — in the eyes of many analysts — is the worst in the Mountain West Conference.
UNLV faces a ton of pressure in this game. Every Mountain West team which goes to Colorado Springs to play Air Force this season will be fully expected to win. Playing Air Force is the worst kind of game for all other Mountain West teams. They will be expected to win, and any failure to do so will feel like a disaster. It will definitely erode the metrics and overall rankings for that losing team. Beating Air Force doesn’t enhance a tournament resume, but losing to Air Force dramatically worsens it. Facing the Falcons is an occasion when avoiding a stumble — a loss which follows a team all the way to Selection Sunday — is the only job, and it can become burdensome.
Here are the UNLV-Air Force College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: UNLV-Air Force Odds
UNLV: -8.5 (-102)
Moneyline: -350
Air Force: +8.5 (-120)
Moneyline: +275
Over: 132.5 (-110)
Under: 132.5 (-110)
How to Watch UNLV vs Air Force
Time: 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT
TV: Mountain West Network
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Why UNLV Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Air Force Falcons are terrible. They have lost nine games. They have gotten blown out in a number of games. They have lost at home this season. There is really nothing to recommend them as the betting choice in any game they play. This is a lot less about UNLV and what the Rebels bring to the table; this is a lot more about fading Air Force and distrusting the Falcons completely. That is not a bad instinct, and it has made a lot of bettors profitable this season.
Why Air Force Will Cover The Spread/Win
UNLV is such an unreliable team, and a team which plays with its food and finds a way to stumble in a few games each season. There’s a reason UNLV hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in several seasons. The Rebels will step on a rake; this is the kind of situation in which they pull a clunker.
Final UNLV-Air Force Prediction & Pick
Neither team deserves trust. Stay well away from this game.
Final UNLV-Air Force Prediction & Pick: Air Force +8.5
The post UNLV vs Air Force prediction, odds, pick for College Basketball appeared first on ClutchPoints.
