Knowingly or not, the NCAA made a rule change on Thursday that will benefit basketball betting.
Every shot made on and around the buzzer will in future, have to be reviewed. And this regardless of whether or not the final score of the game is affected.
Two recent games in which buzzer-beating baskets were incorrectly called may not have been the sole catalyst for change. But they may well have been the final straws that broke the camel’s back.
In the first incident, Oklahoma grabbed a last-second buzzer-beater that cut Iowa’s victory to a 1-point 75-74.
Bad call caused punters to lose money
It did not affect the outcome of the game but it did impact on the betting. The swing from a 4-point margin to a single point resulted in one of sports wagering’s worst betting beats of the season.
A couple of days later the same thing occurred in the game between Villanova and Creighton. Villanova were 9-point favorites and led by 9 when Creighton grabbed a buzzer-beating 2-point jumper.
That reduced Creighton’s winning margin to 7 and causes any bettor who had wagered Nova to cover to lose. A nine-point margin would have seen them get a refund.
Both calls were reviewed by the TV presenters and their viewers. Each time they saw clear evidence that the ball was still in the scorer’s hands when the buzzers sounded.
It had been NCAA policy to review dicey calls made on buzzer baskets in the past. But this was only when the basket in question could impact on the outcome of a game.
The US College basketball authorities did not make an official announcement about the rule change. The news was broken by ESPN’s David Purdum.
It is interesting that the rule amendment has come ahead of next month’s March Madness when basketball betting is at its peak
As it is pretty subtle, the rule change might have been missed. Nevertheless, although the NCAA is still officially opposed to sports betting, it may indicate a softening in its stance.
