Now that allegations of another college basketball game-fixing incident have surfaced, many in the mainstream media are getting into the act and showing a serious lack of understanding regarding the college basketball betting scene.
The government claims that it was a February, 2010, contest that San Diego's Brandon Johnson is accused of fixing, although many believe the game between San Diego and UC-Riverside on Dec. 4, 2009, in which Riverside battled back from a 19-point deficit in the second half, is another possibility.
Was it simply a case of Johnson having an off night and a spirited comeback by Riverside or was it something more sinister? A good case can be made that it was more of an off night by Johnson and a great comeback rather than something shady going on.
While the reports are true that the line moved three points, the reporters are omitting the fact that Riverside was a release by Edward Golden's Right Angle Sports. As any serious college basketball bettor knows, Golden is notorious for moving the line, especially in the early going of the season.
Right Angle Sports had 20 side releases during the first week of December, 2009, and the line moved 2.5 or more points in seven of them. The three-point line move on Dec. 4 wasn't even the biggest of the night. RAS released Montana -8 over Northern Arizona and the Grizzlies closed -12 and won by 17.
San Diego also fell into a classic letdown theory play on Riverside, as the Toreros had just lost to rival San Diego State in overtime two days earlier at home and were now going on the road. It's interesting to note that San Diego opened as a 3-point favorite over San Diego State and closed as a 1-point choice. Perhaps bettors weren't as enamored with San Diego's early season win over Oklahoma as much as the mainstream sports media was.
Maybe bettors were too busy focusing on San Diego's one-point loss at Pacific, which had been their only true road game of the season up until the Riverside game. Beating Houston and Oklahoma in the Great Alaska Shootout were nice wins, but don't forget the Torreos were defeated by Washington State by 37 points in the championship game, a fact that likely stuck in the minds of bettors.
It's also interesting to note that the total on the game in question opened at 123.5 and was bet all the way up to 126.5 and went well under the total with a final of 58-55. Not once has this been mentioned by anybody claiming the Riverside game was fixed.
The only one who really knows what happened is Johnson and a few of his co-defendants. There are arguments that can be made both for and against any game-fixing allegations. But anybody claiming to know is merely jumping to conclusions.
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