Protect Your Unit Week 4 Results Thread

(DISCLAIMER: This game is for entertainment purposes only. No actual money is being wagered.)

Nobody saw this coming:

Only danj725 and jjlovecub took Pitt to win against the spread; no one took them to win outright. Camweed12 and McIntyre2k7 hit the over.

So far this season, single bets on AAC games have lost a total of $1,259.86. Single bets on non-AAC games have won $412.06. Collectively, our six biggest losing games this season were all AAC games; this week’s Houston-Tulane and Central Florida-Pittsburgh are in that list. This week’s AAC games also ruined eleven, count ‘em, ELEVEN parlays that would have otherwise won:

And it’s not just the unexpected UCF and Houston results; Temple and UConn are in there too. Temple followed up a great win over Maryland with a 16-point pantsing by Buffalo; UConn couldn’t stay within four touchdowns of Indiana.

So.... go Mustangs?

Other games of note:

• For the second straight week, the FIU point spread turned on a cheap, late special teams touchdown. This time it was Louisiana Tech returning FIU’s last-ditch on-side kick attempt:

That changed the final score from 36-31 to 43-31, and the point spread was +9.5. This affected four parlays, including one by speruche that became a $180 winner as a result. So when you look at his total, keep in mind that $210 of it ($180 won instead of $30 lost) is directly attributable to this garbage-time play. Such is the nature of sports gambling.

• Are you tired of cheap, late special teams touchdowns? Okay, here’s a very expensive one:

Nobody bet this game - not even me, the resident Eastern Michigan honk - but that’s a brutal way to lose a huge road upset. By the way, Central Connecticut State was ahead by a point because they went for two on their first touchdown of the game.

• ULhothot had UCLA at +800 to win outright, and collected $200 on the Bruins’ shocking upset of Washington State. Having said that, is it ever really shocking when Washington State loses?

Other money line scores include Danj725 (Appalachian State at +135 over North Carolina); jrjs (Auburn +160 over Texas A&M, and USC +165 over Utah); and speruche (SMU +285 over TCU). Two players also had Old Dominion at +3000, which took a lead over Virginia into the fourth quarter. Central Michigan was at +4000 vs. Miami, and was in it late.

• We had our first push bets of the season. Several, actually: West Virginia -5 over Kansas (was 29-24), Clemson -42 over Charlotte (won 52-10), and East Carolina -12 over William & Mary (won 19-7).
• On Friday, I said I liked Arkansas’ Chad Morris at +6000 to be the first head coach fired. After losing at home to San Jose State, I really like it.
• Really, four of you played Central Arkansas-Hawaii? Only ten games got more action than that. And, all four of you got it right (Hawaii to cover -14). I hereby award the Floyd’s Money Team Degenerate Bet of the Week to briank19, BullsOnParade96, dsidwell31, and undercoverbull.

Let’s review the standings:

First-year player speruche moves into the lead on the power of two parlay hits, and BullsOnParade96 losing all $445 he played this week. Danj725 moves into third place. But there’s still a lot of season left.

Medal winners this week are: speruche (1st, $227 award), AndrewPina (2nd, >$100 award), ULhothot (3rd). Also finishing in the black were mmmmsnouts, camweed12, HerdCountry941, GaryStephen, gym399, Briank19, and carlzee.

Looking ahead to next week: conference play is about to start, but there are no major national clashes this week. Virginia-Notre Dame may be the biggest matchup, unless you’re hoping Ole Miss will inexplicably give Alabama trouble again.

Week 5 offers three conference games in the AAC: SMU-USF, Navy-Memphis, and UConn-Central Florida. The most interesting game is probably Georgia Tech-Temple, where GT coach Geoff Collins takes on his former team. That’s the only P5 opponent; other games are Cincinnati-Marshall, Houston-North Texas, and East Carolina-Old Dominion. Tulsa and Tulane are off.