| Game Name: | Guaranteed Rate Bowl |
| Subheader: | 34th Guaranteed Rate Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | December 26 |
| Year Game Played: | 2023 |
| Football Season: | 2023 |
| Stadium: | Chase Field |
| City: | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Visitor School: | University of Kansas |
| Visitor Name Short: | Kansas |
| Visitor Nickname: | Jayhawks |
| Visitor Record: | 8–4 |
| Visitor Conference: | Big 12 |
| Visitor Coach: | Lance Leipold |
| Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 21 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 21 |
| Home School: | University of Nevada, Las Vegas |
| Home Name Short: | UNLV |
| Home Nickname: | Rebels |
| Home Record: | 9–4 |
| Home Conference: | Mountain West |
| Home Coach: | Barry Odom |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 3 |
| Home 3Q: | 14 |
| Home 4Q: | 12 |
| Mvp: | Jason Bean (QB, Kansas)[1] & Kenny Logan (S, Kansas)[2] |
| Odds: | Kansas by 10.5 |
| Referee: | Tim Hedgepeth (ACC)[3] |
| Attendance: | 26,478 |
| Us Network: | ESPN ESPN Radio |
| Us Announcers: | Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Kirk Morrison (analyst), and Stormy Buonantony (sideline) (ESPN) Jorge Sedano (play-by-play) and Max Starks (analyst) (ESPN Radio) |
The 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 26, 2023, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. The 34th annual Guaranteed Rate Bowl featured Kansas of the Big 12 Conference and UNLV of the Mountain West Conference. The game began at approximately 7:10p.m. MST and was aired on ESPN.[4] [5] The Guaranteed Rate Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game's title sponsor was residential mortgage company Guaranteed Rate.
Kansas won the game 49–36. Kansas quarterback Jason Bean, who won offensive MVP, set the Guaranteed Rate Bowl record for passing touchdowns with 6, split between receivers Luke Grimm and Lawrence Arnold who both had 3, tying former Jayhawk Dezmon Briscoe's record for receiving touchdowns.
The game featured the Kansas Jayhawks of the Big 12 Conference and the UNLV Rebels of the Mountain West Conference.
The game was the third meeting between Kansas and UNLV with the all-time series tied at 1–1 prior to the game. The teams' had previously met in 2003 with the Jayhawks winning 46–24.[6]
See main article: 2023 Kansas Jayhawks football team. The Jayhawks entered the game with an 8–4 record (5–4 in Big 12), tied for seventh place in their conference.
This was Kansas' second Guaranteed Rate Bowl; they previously won the 2008 Insight Bowl when the bowl was known by that name. It was the Jayhawks' second consecutive season playing in a bowl game, something only accomplished once before in program history (2007–2008).
See main article: 2023 UNLV Rebels football team. The Rebels entered the game with a 9–4 record (6–2 in Mountain West). Winning the three-way tiebreaker for first place in their conference, the Rebels hosted the 2023 Mountain West Championship Game, losing to Boise State, 44–20.
This was UNLV's first Guaranteed Rate Bowl. It was also the Rebel's first bowl appearance since the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl, following the 2013 season.