Merry Christmoose: Worst betting beats of the weekend

As a child on Christmas Eve, you stared outside your window looking for reindeer. As an adult, you stare at your television looking for moose.

For those of you not familiar with the term "Moose," the sports betting world has used it for years to reference a bad beat. It originated within the old school gambling forums more than 15 years ago, and has stuck ever since.

Each Monday, I will highlight the five biggest "mooses" from the weekend across various sports from my perspective (I can't see everything). If you had the misfortune of betting on three of the five on the list, be the first to send me an e-mail with proof ($25 bet size minimum) to win free cash, and join the four other unlucky members of the Action Network Moose Hall of Fame Club.

Moose Club Hall of Fame Members:

@tfil
@brandobangs
@martinmfly
@rhartley91

Let's get into the five worst beats of this past weekend.

5. USF/Texas Tech Under 66

Under backers still had more than a two touchdown cushion after Texas Tech kicked a field to take a 27-24 lead with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. After a kick out of bounds, South Florida started their drive at their own 35-yard line. On second down, USF quarterback Quinton Flowers hit Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 64-yard touchdown to give the Bulls a 31-27 lead with 4:30 to go.

Texas Tech regained the lead with a wide-open 25-yard down pass with 90 seconds remaining, but it wouldn't hold up, as Flowers would answer again. With only 16 seconds left, USF scored another touchdown, securing the 38-34 Birmingham Bowl win, but more importantly, pushing the game over the total.

It took 24 combined points in the final five minutes of regulation to push the game over in the final seconds. The crazy finish also did not bring any joy to those who backed the Red Raiders plus-3.

4. Nevada/SIU Under 149

Leading 83-61 with 16 seconds remaining, Nevada's Charlie Tooley, who averages 1.0 points per game, hit a 3-pointer to extend the Wolfpack lead to 86-61. Nevada then fouled Southern Illinois on a 3-point attempt in the final seconds, and Aaron Cook subsequently drained all three free throws to push the total over by a single point. 86-64 final.

3. Browns/Bears 2H Over 16.5

It's not a true moose article without a MAC team or the Cleveland Browns. The Browns didn't blow a cover this week, but they did blow the second half over in typical Browns fashion.

Chicago scored its second touchdown of the second half with 3:30 left in the third quarter. Over bettors simply needed three points over the final 18 minutes to get to the window, but neither team would score again. Cleveland tortured over backers at the end of the third quarter with a fumble into the end zone just a few yards away from a score.

2. Milwaukee Bucks +4.5

The Bucks led by as many as 18 points in the second half, but the Hornets stormed back to take the lead with a few minutes left. Despite the collapse, the Bucks had the ball down two with 10 seconds remaining. Take a look at how those 10 seconds played out:

• Khris Middleton misses jumper
• Bucks foul after Hornets rebound
• Carter-Williams hits both free throws (107-103)
• Middleton hits a three pointer (107-106)
• Bucks foul with six seconds left
• Kemba Walker makes both free throws (109-106)
• Eric Bledsoe misses a three pointer
• Bucks foul with 0.4 seconds left
• Walker makes both free throws  (111-106 final)

1. Flyers/Sabres Under 5.5

0-0 at the end of the second period. I'm still not sure how this game went over., but it could have something to do with the fact that Flyers goalie Jake Elliott, nicknamed Moose, has a picture of a moose on the back of his helmet.

Ryan O'Reilly scored the first goal of the game from an absurd angle with 14 minutes left in regulation. Five minutes later, Evander Kane put the Sabres up 2-0, a lead they still held with 2:30 left. Then…

• Flyers Power Play goal  (2-1 with 2:10 left)
• Sabres empty net goal (3-1 with 1:07 left)
• Flyers goal (3-2 with :32 left)
• Sabres empty net goal (4-2 with :01 left)

Jack Eichel's second emtpy net goal in the final 67 seconds crossed the goal line with 0.6 showing on the clock to push the total over by a half goal.

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