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Every sports fan knows you’re just asking for trouble when you decide to throw money down on something you’re convinced is a “sure bet,” and Darren Rovell became the latest person to learn that lesson the hard way courtesy of Wisconsin and LSU.
On Monday, the Badgers and the Tigers faced off in the ReliaQuest Bowl—a game that seemed to be a bit hard to handicap thanks to the circumstances surrounding it.
Wisconsin was without the services of RB Braelon Allen, offensive lineman Tanor Bortolini, and more than a dozen players who’d entered the transfer portal (including a handful of starters), while LSU was missing Heisman-winning QB Jayden Daniels as well as around 10 guys who’d decided to explore other college options (although most of them were backups).
The over/under was set at 57.5 before the game got underway at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, and prior to kickoff, Rovell boldly declared taking the under was the “easiest bet of 2024.”
Easiest bet of 2024:
Wisconsin-LSU
Under 57.5.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 1, 2024
The under was still on pace to hit when the first quarter ended with Wisconsin up 14-0, but that position was much less comfortable by the time the Badgers headed into the locker room at halftime with a 21-14 lead.
The two teams quickly picked up where they left off when the third quarter began, and the under officially died when Wisconsin kicked a field goal to bring the score to 31-28 (a total of 59 points) with 1:18 remaining in the frame.
Rovell entered the spin zone by claiming he’d heard LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers was planning to head to the sidelines for the second half after breaking the school record for most career receiving yards (he remained in the game after surpassing Josh Reed’s total of 3,001 with around five minutes to go in the first quarter).
To his credit, Rovell eventually admitted he’d gotten a bit too cocky while pledging to avoid the “easy bet” label going forward, but it’s still hard to resist the urge to clown on him a little bit.