Greg McElroy Predicts College Football Upset on Saturday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Cole Sullivan | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 5:09 PM ET

Week 2 of the college football season is almost here, and the slate is loaded with games that could produce some early-season upsets.

On Thursday, former star quarterback Greg McElroy, now host of "Always College Football with Greg McElroy," unveiled his picks for the weekend. While he stuck with the favorites in most matchups, he sees one late-night upset brewing in Las Vegas.

McElroy predicts that the UNLV Rebels, led by new head coach Dan Mullen, will have enough to knock off the UCLA Bruins. That would push UNLV to 3-0 while dropping UCLA to 0-2—a result that would certainly set off alarm bells in Los Angeles.

Currently, UCLA is a 2 1/2-point road favorite against the Rebels, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, down from 3 1/2 points earlier in the week.

“UNLV, they’re a 2 1/2-point dog against UCLA… I think UNLV wins the game,” McElroy said. “I saw a lot of flaws last week from the UCLA Bruins. I think UNLV under Dan Mullen is just getting started. They’ve got two games under their belt and looked much better from Week 1 to Week 2. I think they’ll look even better from Week 3 to Week 4.”

UNLV hasn’t looked particularly impressive through two weeks and has yet to be tested by a Power Five opponent, which explains why UCLA enters as the favorite despite its blowout loss to Utah in Week 1.

The Rebels’ two wins came against Idaho State, a narrow 38-31 victory, and Sam Houston State, where they looked sharper in a 38-21 win.

Meanwhile, UCLA was dismantled 43-10 by Utah, raising early concerns about quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The former five-star recruit left Tennessee after NIL disputes and transferred to UCLA, where he’s expected to spark a Bruins program that has struggled in recent years.

A loss to UNLV, dropping to 0-2 in non-conference play, would be a crushing setback for UCLA—especially with a brutal schedule looming. The Bruins are set to face No. 2 Penn State, No. 23 Indiana, Nebraska, No. 1 Ohio State, Washington, and rival USC once Big Ten play begins, a slate where they’ll likely be underdogs in nearly every matchup.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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