A Lazy Layup By Michigan Gave Bettors The Worst Beat Of The Early College Hoops Season


Gambling on sports is, just generally, a bad idea. There are so many things that can go wrong and, for the most part, the players and coaches involved could care less about spreads and totals. That said, there’s nothing quite like finding yourself heavily invested in the goings on of a game involving teams that you would otherwise have no connection to.

Early and late season college basketball often provides some of the most exciting gambling action, because of the strange out of conference matchups you get in tournaments prior to conference play and then in the NCAA tournament itself. Out in Hawaii, the Maui Invitational is one of the classic early season tournaments and on Wednesday night VCU took on Michigan in an intriguing non-conference matchup.

The Wolverines came into the game favored by seven points over the higher ranked (but stumbling out of the gate) Rams. As the game winded down, it was clear Michigan was going to win but the Rams looked like they were in great position to cover. And then, disaster struck for those with VCU +7.

Everyone with VCU (and, just generally that understands the stakes of the moment for bettors) was yelling “what are you doing?!” right here. Dribble it out. Punt the ball into the crowd. Run down for a fast layup to leave time for VCU to maybe get another shot. Do anything but walk under the basket and put in a lazy bucket at the buzzer. Any other option, including scoring fast (which, again, doesn’t make a ton of sense but at least could be somewhat understood) is better than this.

Those with Michigan minus the number were thrilled, but this will go down as an all-timer for everyone on the Rams in Maui. Bad beats build character, though, so they’ll be tougher for next time.

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