At the end of yesterday’s USC – Utah game, the Trojans blocked a game-tying field goal and returned it for a touchdown as time expired. The final score was USC 23, Utah 14. USC, who was an 8-point favorite over the new Pac-12 school had incredibly covered the spread. Not so fast. Referees threw a flag as USC players rushed the field during the return and the score was negated. USC still won, but failed to cover the spread.

After the dust had settled, the Pac-12 decided to allow the touchdown. Via ESPN:

It was not clear initially whether the call was the new celebration rule or unsportsmanlike conduct, but the reason for the score change was that unsportsmanlike conduct penalties can only be enforced on dead balls, allowing the touchdown to count.

“All unsportsmalike conduct fouls by substitutes are enforced as dead ball fouls,” Pac-12 officiating consultant Mike Pereira said in a statement. “Since the game was over, the penalty could not be enforced and the referee stated it was declined by rule.”

The obvious question is – who had money on this game. These are two fairly unprecedented events, correct? First referees negated a score after time expired that did not affect the outcome of the game. Then, the Pac-12 changed the score of a game, which really doesn’t mean anything to either team.