It was a dangerous weekend to bet on Mountain West football, with three games from the conference ending in unlucky results for some bettors. The unfortunate losses continued into Sunday -- just ask those who had the under in the night game.
Here are this past weekend's worst bad beats.
Saturday
Air Force Falcons at Wyoming Cowboys
Line: Wyoming -3
This was a tough one if you had Air Force. The Falcons led 27-14 with less than five minutes left against a Wyoming team that averaged fewer than 20 points per game this season.
Wyoming rallied and put together a pair of touchdown drives to take a 28-27 lead with 1:09 left. At that point, those on Air Force +3 were still covering -- but, unfortunately, the implosion would continue. The Falcons threw an interception on the first play of their next drive, giving it back to Wyoming with 1:02 left. Three plays later, Xazavian Valladay's 27-yard touchdown on third-and-15 crushed bettors on the underdog, who suffered the worst bad beat of the day.
Final score: Wyoming 35, Air Force 27 (Wyoming covered)
San Diego State Aztecs at Fresno State Bulldogs
Line: Fresno State -10
Fresno State trailed 14-10 at halftime but dominated the second half en route to a nine-point win. The margin of victory, however, wasn't large enough for those who took the Bulldogs -10.
You don't want to put it all on one guy, but some bettors aren't loving Fresno State kicker Asa Fuller right now. He missed both an extra point and field goal in the fourth quarter, which proved costly in a game the Bulldogs failed to cover by one point. Fresno State still had a chance to cover after getting the ball at the San Diego State 32-yard line with 3:02 left, but it ran out the clock and ended the game by taking a knee.
Final score: Fresno State 23, San Diego State 14 (San Diego State covered)
UNLV Rebels at Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors
Line: Hawai'i -6.5
Another Mountain West game, another tough loss for bettors. UNLV led 28-13 with less than 12 minutes left, but Hawai'i rallied to not only win, but cover the 6.5-point spread.
The Rainbow Warriors scored 22 unanswered points in the final quarter, capped by Chevan Cordeiro's 68-yard touchdown to John Ursua with 1:25 left. It marked the third touchdown pass for Cordeiro, who didn't enter the game until the fourth quarter. It had to be pretty cool for the freshman quarterback, but not so much for those who took UNLV +6.5 and lost by half a point (though the spread did close at +7 at some books).
Final score: Hawai'i 35, UNLV 28 (Hawai'i covered)
Sunday
Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints
Line: Over/under 57.5
It's hard to imagine that the Saints scored 48 points and the total still went under. But that was the unfortunate reality for those on the over in this one.
Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Saints led 45-7 and had the ball at the Philadelphia 1-yard line. After getting stopped on third-and-goal, Sean Payton elected to send Will Lutz for a field goal to go up 48-7 instead of going for it.
You can't really blame Payton and the Saints, though. On the other hand, it's fair to ask what is going on with the defending champs. They were held to just seven points, despite reaching the New Orleans 13-yard line on their final drive. That drive ended on a Carson Wentz interception with 31 seconds left -- his third pick of the day. Those on the over ended up falling just short, with only 10 points scored in the final 20:34.
Final score: Saints 48, Eagles 7 (total went under)
Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears
Line: Over/under 43.5
The talk after this game will revolve around the great performance by the Bears' defense. Those who bet the under don't want to hear about that.
The Bears led 14-3 with less than 12 minutes left in the game, and if you had the under, you weren't even remotely nervous. What happened from that point on, however, was a disaster for some unlucky bettors out there. Chicago and Minnesota combined for 28 points in less than an 11-minute span, with Stefon Diggs' touchdown with 48 seconds left sending the total over by a point and a half.
One other thing that didn't help: The two teams combined to go for two on all four touchdowns in the game, converting three times.
Final score: Bears 25, Vikings 20 (total went over)