Temple-UAB Game Suspicious Betting Detected

Massive Line Move Leads to Betting Scrutiny for Owls

Thursday’s game between the Temple Owls and UAB Blazers wasn’t one of the better games on the schedule. Although when all was said and done, it received more attention than any other game on the slate. Not because it was a good game, but because of the betting that took place on the game.

The Blazers opened as 1.5-point favorites on Wednesday afternoon, but the line reached as high as 8.5 points at some outlets on Thursday. That raised some eyebrows. The Temple-UAB game suspicious betting patterns caught the attention of gambling watchdog U.S. Integrity, who notified casinos.

The American Athletic Conference employs U.S. Integrity to monitor sports betting among its member schools.

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Temple isn’t a very good team this year and entered the game with an 11-18 record and 4-12 mark in the AAC. The Blazers were 18-11 and 10-6 before the contest. The KenPom FanMatch ratings had the Blazers winning by a single point, although his power ratings had a bigger margin.

After the opening odds of UAB -1.5 came out Wednesday, the point spread drifted up slightly overnight, and the number was 2.5 early Thursday afternoon. That’s when everything began to happen. UAB money started to come pouring in and the climbed to 6.5 without an hour.

The number continued to climb to 8.5 before some money on Temple brought the closing spread down to UAB -7. The Blazers crushed Temple 100-72. The Owls didn’t play bad offensively, but the defense was horrendous and Temple was outrebounded 41-19.

Not the First Time For Temple

The Temple-UAB game suspicious betting is drawing additional support due to the fact the UAB game isn’t the first to see a major point spread move against the Owls. When Temple hosted Memphis the Tigers opened as 6.5-point favorites and the jumped all the way to 10.5 points. Memphis won 84-77 after opening a 45-27 halftime lead.

There’s no question that scores and odds are going to be front and center more now that more states have legalized sports betting. Just because there was some Temple-UAB game suspicious, betting does not necessarily translate to games being fixed.

In fact, if you look more closely at the Owls and their performance this year, you’ll see Temple has fared well as an underdog, while the Owls have struggled as favorites.

Temple is 6-5 straight-up as a favorite, and just 3-8 against the point spread. If Temple is shaving points, as some people are quick to suggest, these are the types it’s more likely to take place.

Teams are much less likely to throw games as an underdog, since they not only have to lose, but they have to lose by a bigger margin that the point spread. When it comes to shaving points as a favorite, the players involved can still win the game.

UAB is a good team, but not necessarily a great one. The Blazers won’t be appearing in anybody’s March Madness bracket predictions. UAB has played well in AAC games, going 11-5-1 against the spread. It’s no surprise to see them cover the number against the Owls, who are 7-9-1 ATS in the AAC.

For Gambling news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.


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