It was a wild first day of the 2024 NCAA tournament, with No. 3 Kentucky losing outright to 14-seed Oakland as a 13.5-point favorite and putting coach John Calipari squarely on the hot seat.
But there was plenty more at stake than just advancing through the tournament on Thursday. Several late shots impacted totals and spreads while anyone who took Jack Gohlke to hit more than 9.5 three-pointers has already massively increased their bankroll.
As we get ready to do it all again on Friday, here are five wildest gambling moments from Thursday:
SURVIVOR POOL: Free to enter. $2,500 to win. Can you survive the madness?
No. 15 Long Beach State with remarkable back-door cover vs. No. 2 Arizona
(Gabriel Mayberry-USA TODAY Sports)
No. 15 Long Beach State (+20.5) played very well in the first half, going into halftime down 41-35 to Arizona. But the Wildcats started the second half strong and built a double-digit lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. With under a minute left in the game, Arizona missed a shot, Long Beach state missed and then Arizona dribbled the clock out … to win 85-65 and secure a cover. Bettors who got in late at +20 left with a push.
A 1H stunner in Oregon-South Carolina
(Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
No. 11 Oregon took some late money on Thursday and closed as a 2.5-point favorite over 6-seed South Carolina. The Ducks won (and covered) 87-73, but the real drama came at the end of the first half. With the 1H over/under at 61.5 (or as high as 62.5 in some places) and the score 32-26, Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad made a shot with a 5 seconds left to make it 34-26. Then, South Carolina’s Ta’Lon Cooper launched a shot from half court and hit the 3 at the buzzer to push the game over the first-half total.
An absolutely brutal bad beat if you had the 1H UNDER 61.5 in Oregon-South Carolina 😱🤢🤮 pic.twitter.com/WzbLxKSFM8
— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) March 21, 2024
A brutal beat.
Kentucky loses outright to 14-seed Oakland
(Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports)
I’m not going to lie, I don’t remember seeing very many people picking Oakland to cover, let alone win this game. No. 3 Kentucky was a massive liability for sportsbooks in the futures market.
The Wildcats lost outright, 80-76, in the one true shocker of Thursday’s games.
1H unders don't cash on Day 1
(Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports)
For several years, savvy bettors have been wagering on first-half unders in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. According to Sean Green and Ryan Kramer, CEOs of the Sports Gambling Podcast Network, first-half unders were 225-157-14 since 2011 heading into this tournament.
But on Thursday, first-half unders went only 6-10, including several that went over on the final possession (see: NC State-Texas Tech, not that this writer is bitter).
We’ll keep an eye on this trend for Friday’s games.
Dayton comes back from down 17 points in 2H
(Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports)
Dayton (+1.5) looked dead in the water in the second half, down 17 points to Nevada. But the Flyers, who were as high as 40-1 on the moneyline at Caesars Sportsbooks, came all the way back to win 63-60 in one of the worst bad beats among Thursday’s games.
