Rebels QB departure causes dramatic line move on UNLV-Fresno State

The news that UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka is leaving the program after its best start in 40 years hit many Rebels fans hard.

The line on UNLV’s game against Fresno State on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium also took a hit after Sluka announced his departure Tuesday night on social media.

The Rebels were as high as 4-point favorites Tuesday afternoon, but the line dropped under 3 on Tuesday night and then was taken off the board. Sportsbooks reopened the game at pick’em Wednesday morning before the consensus line crept back up to -1.

“You’re looking at a 3- to 3½-point adjustment based on him,” Westgate SuperBook oddsmaker Jeff Sherman said. “The line was 3 pretty much everywhere at the time (the news broke), and some places started making adjustments and closed it.”

The total also dropped, from 49½ to 48½.

UNLV’s chances to make the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff also worsened. The SuperBook raised the Rebels from 9-1 to 12-1.

“Obviously, it’s going to put a dent into their chances for the playoffs,” Sherman said. “We had had them at 9-1 (Tuesday). We bumped them up to 12-1 (Wednesday), but it wouldn’t surprise me if it goes higher than that.”

UNLV was a 40-1 long shot before the season started to make the playoffs, and its chances improved after it upset Kansas 23-20 on the road Sept. 13 for the Rebels’ first 3-0 start since 1984.

Sherman said the line on Saturday’s game inched up from 3½ to 4 early Tuesday afternoon before dropping back to 3½. He said the book took some Fresno State money at +3½ that caused the line to drop to 3.

After the news broke, SuperBook risk manager Casey Degnon initially lowered the line to 2½ and took a bet at that number on the Rebels before it continued to plummet.

UNLV is 12-5 under coach Barry Odom and 13-4 against the spread, the best ATS record in the country in that span.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.