Sports

These CBB Teams Paid Opponents To Beat Them On Their Home Courts In Their Season Openers

#College Basketball
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Tyson Walker walks on the court during a game against James Madison.

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“Buy games” are an annual part of the non-conference schedule that can often produce snoozers. Powerhouse programs invite smaller schools into their arenas, paying them to take part in a blowout as a way of gearing up for the season to come.

But in some cases, the roles get reversed. A number of college basketball teams paid to get upset in front of their home crowds this week, offering up embarrassing losses to start the year.

All schools compete in these types of contests.

For the team paying, you hope it’s a warm-up to the year, allowing the team to mesh and work out the kinks before competition revs up. For those receiving, the paycheck is a way of supporting the athletic department.

Unfortunately, it can provide those larger schools with a double whammy should things go awry.

A few programs narrowly avoided this unwanted result, most notably Louisville, who used a last-second bucket to beat UMBC 94-93. Notre Dame, Ohio State, West Virginia, and Cal narrowly escaped disaster, too.

Others weren’t so lucky.

The biggest upset of the college basketball season to this point has been James Madison’s win over No. 4 Michigan State. Not only did the Spartans pay JMU $95K, but head coach Tom Izzo also lost to his nephew, an assistant on the Dukes’ staff.

Brutal.

MSU wasn’t the only Power Five team to lose to a lesser foe, though.

Oklahoma State got beat by Abilene Christian, with the Cowboys losing their first home opener since 1957. It’s been a rough year for OSU fans as the football team received a similar fate, paying South Alabama to beat them by four touchdowns in September.

Vanderbilt also fell to a Presbyterian team that went just 1-17 in conference play last season. PC was up double digits in the final five minutes before the Commodores made things look a little more respectable in the 68-62 loss.

Speaking of South Alabama, the Jaguars wound up on the wrong side of the scoreboard after a matchup with NAIA program Mobile. Mobile never trailed in the contest and led by 24 points at halftime.

More college basketball upsets

A few of the more notable mid-majors also fell after sending a paycheck to opponents.

Maybe the biggest shocker was VCU, who opened with McNeese State. Not only were the Rams a double-digit favorite, but opposing head coach Will Wade wasn’t even on the sidelines as he began serving an early season suspension.

McNeese State found themselves up 20 points in the first half on their way to a 76-65 win.

DePaul fell to Purdue-Fort Wayne, getting the season started on the wrong foot.

And then there was last year’s Cinderella story Fairleigh Dickinson knocking off MAC member Buffalo. FDU upset top seeded Purdue in the NCAA Tournament last season, and they can now add another victim to the list.

There will surely be more of these games to come as the season continues on.