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Traina Thoughts: College Football Gave Us a Monumental Betting Day on Saturday
1. Scott Van Pelt will do this in a much more entertaining way on his weekly "Bad Beats" segment, but Saturday was so wild that I had to weigh in and show you four truly spectacular backdoor covers.
First up we have Alabama -25 against South Carolina. The Crimson Tide were leading 47-16 for a nice cover with just 15 seconds remaining. Then this happened.
Final score 47-23 as the Gamecocks storm through the backdoor.
On the 1-10 pain scale for Crimson Tide backers, this gets a 7 since it was just an 11-yard touchdown.
Next up: Syracuse +28 vs. Clemson. The Tigers led 34-6 with 58 seconds left when they had a 2nd-and-7 from their own 43 yard line. You figure two runs and everyone goes home with a push. As the great Lee Corso says, "not so fast." The Clemson running back busts one up the middle and takes it 57 yards for the touchdown to hand Orangemen backers a loss. Final score 41-6.
On the 1-10 pain scale, this is a solid 8.5 for anyone who bet 'Cuse.
Next up: Kentucky +8 vs. Florida, over/under 48.5. The Gators held just a one-point lead when they had a 3rd-and-6 from their own 24 with 44 seconds left in the game. One stop and the Wildcats cover. But it's not that easy. Florida's Josh Hammond takes a handoff and breaks free 76 yards for a touchdown.
Final score: Florida 29-Kentucky 21. Wildcats bettors end up with a push and under bettors end up broke.
On the 1-10 pain scale this is a 9.5.
And now the best for last: Texas -32 at Rice, over/under 57.5. If you had Rice +32 you were in full celebration mode when the Owls scored a four-yard touchdown with 1:07 left in regulation to make the score 41-13. You're thinking all Texas has to do when it gets the ball is take two knees and you cash your ticket.
Just watch what happened.
That's right. A 97-YARD KICKOFF RETURN. Texas covers, the game goes over and Rice backers vomit all over the place.
On the 1-10 pain scale this is an easy 11.
2. ESPN announced late Friday that Chris Berman and Tom Jackson would once again be hosting the legendary NFL PrimeTime this season each Sunday at 7:30 pm. ET. There was a catch, however. The show is airing only on ESPN's app, which costs $5 a month. A few thoughts here. This was either thought of very late in the game or there were a lot of issues to work out. It's very strange this would launch Week 2 instead of Week 1 and it's even stranger ESPN would announce it just two days before the debut on a Friday night.
The reason it's on the app and not one of ESPN's various networks is because NBC has an exclusive window to air NFL highlights in that time period. Personally, I'd rather see them air NFL PrimeTime on TV at 11:30 p.m. ET after Sunday Night Football ends instead of at 7:30 p.m. ET on a paid app, but that's just me.
3. As you know, the Saints got screwed again Sunday, when refs blew a whistle on what they initially said was an incomplete pass. It turned out it was a fumble and even though Cam Jordan returned it to the end zone, the play was blown dead. So after the game, Jordan did a little stand-up routine.
4. Fake Andy Reid went into the Blackhole to watch the Chiefs easily handle the Raiders yesterday.
5. The Falcons seemed to have enjoyed their 24-20 win over the Eagles Sunday night.
6. The latest SI Media Podcast features a very open and honest interview with Ryen Russillo, who explained why he chose to leave ESPN last month to join The Ringer. In addition, we also discussed what makes a podcast good, what people getting into sports media should know and whether Pam Beesly is awful.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on iTunes, Spotify or Google Play.
7. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: Here's two-and-a-half minutes of Steve Austin giving The Rock the Stone Cold Stunner.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on iTunes, Spotify or Google Play. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.
IN CLOSING: Under 45 in the Browns-Jets tonight is my (losing) play.
