We are always on the lookout for bad beats. They provide great stories and every gambler has one or two that really stick out in their memory. I truly believe that people remember the bad beats even more than they remember the big winners.

On Saturday night in the NCAA Tourney the Oregon Ducks met up with the Wisconsin Badgers in second round action. The line had Wisconsin favored by 6 points. Wisconsin ended up winning the game 85-77. That 8 point win was good enough to get the money for the Badgers. However that final score does not even scratch at the surface of the story here.

Oregon really dominated the game from the start and took a solid 12 point lead into the half. In the early second half they had stretched that lead all the way up to 16. With the 6 points they were getting that means that Oregon backers had a 22 point lead in the second half, must have felt pretty good.

Yet in gambling you can never feel safe until that final horn sounds. Wisconsin started to make a run and clawed all the way back. However, the only time that Wisconsin was ahead by more than the 6 points was in the final .6 seconds.

Down by 5 with mere seconds left it was Oregon’s ball and Mike Moser hoisted up a 3 to try to cut into the Badgers lead. His 3 ball missed and Wisconsin got the rebound. Of course Oregon was looking to foul but who knows if they would have enough time. Wisconsin made one pass and a foul was called with .6 seconds left. The officials could have let that one slide and have the game end, but it was a foul and they decided to make the call.

Now Oregon backers are thinking, he hits 1 out of the 2 free throws and Wisconsin wins by 6 resulting in a push. The refs however consulted the monitors and decided to call it a flagrant foul. That means 4 free throws for Wisconsin with the personal foul plus the technical. Heart attack time for Oregon backers. Traveon Jackson goes to the line and hits 3 out of 4 to give Wisconsin the 8 point victory and the cash.

The only time the entire game that Wisconsin backers were winning their bets was the final .6 seconds of the game. I don’t think I can ever remember a flagrant foul being called in a situation like that to swing the money.

Conspiracy theorists and drunk guys at the bar might say that the refs obviously had money on Wisconsin and decided to shift that cash. I don’t really buy that though as sportsbooks generally want the underdog to win since the public tends to bet favorites. If the Vegas casinos were in on it they would’ve swung it Oregon’s way.

In the end it just comes down to another bad beat and a rough night to have money on the Oregon Ducks. Quack Quack.