South Alabama blowout results in voided bets

• Doug Greenberg, ESPNSep 13, 2024, 01:29 PM ET

South Alabama crushed Northwestern State 87-10 on Thursday night, with U.S.A. setting a school scoring record. The assault was so bad that the coaches of both teams agreed to shorten the 4th quarter by 6 minutes, leading to only 54 minutes of play.This ended

up being key for the sports wagering outcomes. College football sportsbook rules and regulations normally require 55 minutes of play for many action to be considered valid, though there is freedom for interpretation.DraftKings ‘house rules state,”There should be 5 minutes or less of set up game time left for bets to have action unless the specific market outcome is already unconditionally identified.”The tail end is vital, as over and under bets on the overall(in this case set at 59.5, per ESPN BET odds) can be considered “unconditional “– to put it simply, they would have hit regardless of anything that might have occurred in the last minutes of the game.As an outcome, DraftKings graded overs and unders as winners and losers, respectively. BetMGM confirmed that it settled overall bets in the exact same way. Caesars, ESPN BET and FanDuel did not instantly react to inquiries for this story.For the point spread(set at South Alabama -36.5), DraftKings graded all bets as space in accordance with its rules.

However, the book said it is awarding money payouts Friday for any wagers on U.S.A.’s full-game and second-half spreads as if they were winners. First-half and third-quarter wagers stand as is.BetMGM voided all full-game wagers on Northwestern State, in accordance with house rules, however graded South Alabama bets as winners, calling the final rating an “main outcome”as” declared by the main governing body, “per the book’s home rules.The NCAA’s main football rulebook says, “At any time during the game, the playing time of any remaining duration or periods may be shortened by mutual contract of the opposing head

coaches and the referee.”Basically, coaches and authorities have flexibility to cut off games in a blowout circumstance, though there is no standard for how much they need to be shortened by.These circumstances have happened at least three times this season, with every one dealt with differently by head coaches and referees.On Aug. 29, Arkansas beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70-0, with the teams choosing to play 10-minute quarters in the second half, causing just 50 minutes of game time. BetMGM and DraftKings applied the exact same rulings as they did for Thursday’s game.On Sept. 7,

Georgia steamrolled Tennessee Tech 48-3. In that case, the coaches and authorities decided to shorten the 4th quarter by five minutes, making for precisely 55 minutes of play and therefore confirming all action for that contest.