Bizarre Overtime Creates Baddest of the Bad Beats

One thing that becomes clear when you start taking an interest in The Board is that there is simply no shortage of opportunities for hard-working people to lose their money. The sports-wagering portfolio is nothing if not diversified; for instance, right now you can place a bet on collegiate and professional basketball, hockey over/unders, FCS football first-halves, four million different golf futures, plus a partridge and a pear tree.

This reality provides grist for the Bad Beats mill, a valued piece of brick-and-mortar within the SportsCenter city limits. Even still — it's a bit arresting to watch six different examples of how things can go horribly wrong as Scott Van Pelt and Stanford Steve did late last night.

Ben Simmons, a career 10 percent shooter from beyond the arc, knocking down a meaningless 31-footer at the buzzer to ruin an otherwise successful under is bad enough. But compound that with the sorcery that took place in the UC Davis-Cal Poly game and it's reason enough to look in the mirror and wonder if perhaps it's time for a new hobby.

Davis and Poly had a combined 135.5 number, which appeared all but certain to go over as the teams went into overtime deadlocked 66-66. Four measly points are all that were needed. And yet, they never came. The two teams combined for a goose egg after a bucket on the opening possession, resulting in an underwhelming 68-66 final.

An overtime in which the ledger finished 2-0! Never seen that before. Vividly remember Michigan State getting blitzed 11-0 by a Wisconsin team in the extra frame of a Big Ten Tournament championship game but 2-0 is a damn work of art. Imagine how mad in addition to sad the person who had the UC-Davis-Cal Poly over was with each empty possession. It is my earnest hope that such a poor soul has already reached out for the help they need.