Worst gambling ‘bad beats’ of the weekend
Note: Closing lines are courtesy of Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook and pick percentages are via Wunderdog sports.
Nebraska Cornhuskers at Miami (FL) Hurricanes
Closing line: Miami (FL) -3.5, Over/under 59.5
There were five matchups between teams from the Big Ten and ACC on Saturday, but none had bettors shaking their head more than this game. Miami jumped out to a 17-0 first quarter lead and led by as many 24 in the third. When Hurricanes’ kicker Michael Badgley knocked in his fourth field goal of the day, Miami led 33-10 in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the 60 percent of bettors who took the Hurricanes, this would not be the last time we saw Badgley.
Cue the comeback.
Led by three Tommy Armstrong touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, along with a pair of two-point conversions, Nebraska erased a 23-point deficit in the final 8:36 of regulation to force overtime. All of sudden, the over 59.5 had hit (much to the dismay of the 48 percent of folks who took the under) and the 3.5-point spread was in play. On the very first play of overtime, Armstrong was picked off by Miami’s Corn Elder, who made a bid at taking it back to the house (which would have given Miami the cover) but was pushed out of bounds after a 47-yard return. Any kind of score would have given the Hurricanes the win, but Miami backers needed a touchdown. Would they get it?
No. After getting down to the Nebraska three-yard line, a Miami penalty followed by a kneel-down, Miami coach Al Golden brought in his kicker. The aforementioned Badgley nailed the game-winning field to give the Hurricanes the win, but leave those who bet Miami wondering what had happened.
After the game, Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya said, “We won the game, that’s all that matters.”
Well, not exactly.
Final score: Miami (FL) 36, Nebraska 33 (Nebraska covers and game goes over)
UC Davis Aggies at Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Closing line: Hawaii -21.5
This game didn’t kick off until after midnight on the east coast as 72 percent of the bets came in on Hawaii. With it being the latest game of the night, it marked the last chance for bettors to either salvage or improve their day. Those who laid the 21.5 points with the Rainbow Warriors probably just wished they went to sleep.
With just over three minutes to go in the game, Hawaii led 47-17. But things got a little interesting when UC Davis’ Joshua Kelley scored from 14 yards out to pull the Aggies within 23. On the ensuing kickoff, Hawaii’s Keelan Ewaliko fumbled and UC Davis took over at the Rainbow Warriors’ six-yard line. All of sudden, the 72 percent of folks who took Hawaii needed a stop. The Rainbow Warriors held strong on the following three plays as UC Davis faced a fourth-and-goal from the nine yard line. It was going to come down to one play. Then, the unthinkable happened. Instead of going for it, UC Davis head coach Ron Gould sent out his kicker. Brady Stuart nailed the 27-yard kick with less than a minute left as Hawaii was no longer covering.
There’s really only one thing you can say to those who took Hawaii: Hopefully you didn’t bet Miami also.
Final score: Hawaii 47, UC Davis 27 (UC Davis covers)
NFL Survivor Pool Picks
While there were games in which the spread and over/under were decided in the fourth quarter, no one game qualified as a “bad beat” in the NFL this past weekend. There were however, many folks left thinking “what if?” after seeing their survivor pool pick go down. All five of the most popular picks for Sunday’s games on ESPN’s Eliminator Challenge lost (not including Jets/Colts tonight).
Making a survivor pool pick simply requires you to pick the straight up winner of any game. If your team wins, you go on to the next week. If they lose, you’re done. The most important rule is that you can only pick a team once.
After Week 2, most people won’t be making another selection until next year.
The first slate of games saw the week’s most popular pick, the Saints, lose as 9.5-point favorites. More than 36 percent of the picks on Eliminator Challenge were on New Orleans. A pair of road teams in the Rams (picked by 8.4 percent of people) and Titans (4.6 percent) also went down early in the day. If you had the Dolphins (13.4 percent) or Ravens (15.4 percent), you had to be feeling good as the number of “survivors” in your pool was dwindling. That good feeling went away a few hours later when Miami and Baltimore both lost as road favorites.
How crazy was it to be in a survivor pool this week? Less than 20 percent of people lost their Eliminator Challenge pick in Week 1 compared to more than 80 percent who lost in Week 2. After what we saw on Sunday, good luck to the 8.6 percent of you on the Colts tonight.