The Ninth Island Showdown Has Never Meant More

The Ninth Island Showdown between Hawai'i and UNLV is one of college football's most fascinating rivalries. One of the few, if not the only rivalry game inspired by tourism, the rivalry draws upon the affinity of many Hawaiians for Sin City. Unfortunately, most of the 34 games have been footnotes in Hawai'i and UNLV's conference landscape. However, that changes this Friday.

For the first time, Hawai'i and UNLV have conference championship implications for both. Hawai'i and UNLV are both part of a four-way tie for second place in the Mountain West. Hawai'i and UNLV also have an outside chance at the College Football Playoff. While the national media focuses the race for the final automatic bid on the American Champion and James Madison, some not-too-far-fetched chaos, including East Carolina winning the American, could put the Mountain West Champion in the College Football Playoff. Hawai'i is 7-3 with a win over Stanford and 8-2 San Diego State, while UNLV is 8-2 with a win over UCLA.

Only three times before has the Ninth Island Showdown had late-season conference championship implications for either school. In 2014, 3-8 Hawai'i entered its game with 2-9 UNLV still alive for the Mountain West Championship Game. Hawai'i needed to win its remaining two games and some losses by Fresno State, San Diego State, and Nevada to represent the Mountain West West Division in the Championship Game. Hawai'i won a thrilling, yet controversial, last-second game against UNLV 37-35 to stay alive in the Mountain West West Division race.

The win created a scenario where Hawai'i would win the Mountain West West Division with a win over Fresno State to advance to 5-8 and losses by San Diego State and Nevada. Unfortunately, this did not come to fruition as Hawai'i lost to Fresno State to end the 2014 season.

In 2019, 6-4 Hawai'i entered the Ninth Island Showdown with a 3-3 conference record, needing to beat 2-7 UNLV to set up a winner-take-all game against San Diego State the following week for the Mountain West West Division championship. Hawai'i beat the Rebels 21-7 and beat San Diego State to make its first Mountain West Championship Game appearance.

While UNLV made the Mountain West Championship Game in 2023, their game with Hawai'i was too early in the year to have any major implications. The 2024 game took place on November 9th, with UNLV needing to win out to outlast Colorado State down the stretch to make the conference championship game. UNLV won 21-7 in its first game after suffering its first conference loss to then #17 College Football Playoff frontrunner Boise State. The win was the first of four straight wins to send the Rebels to their second Mountain West Championship in a row.

Impactful Ninth Island Showdowns are rare. Now both Hawai'i and UNLV have much at stake entering Friday. If the game itself matches the hype, this year's Ninth Island Showdown could be one of the greatest in series history.