Temple Of...Point Shaving? Or Just A Bad Team?

Temple has a bad men's basketball team that fell to 11-19 overall and 4-13 in the American Athletic Conference on Thursday night with a 100-72 home loss as a touchdown underdog to Alabama-Birmingham, which improved to 19-11 and 11-6 in the AAC.

Not exactly a surprise to the sparse crowd of 2,515 at the 10,206-seat Liacouras Center in Philadelphia. The Owls did suffer a 10-game losing streak from Jan. 10 through Feb. 15 and have eight losses by 10 points or more under first-year coach Adam Fisher.

But some funny betting happened on the way to tip-off at what used to be called "the Apollo of Temple."

UAB opened as a 1.5-point favorite at various outlets early in the day and jumped to as many as eight before settling at seven shortly before the game started. Such dramatic movements in point spreads usually only happen with regard to an injury to or suspension of a significant player on one of the teams. There was no such injury or suspension.

Why Was There So Much Betting Action On UAB-Temple?

But a lot of money was wagered throughout the day on UAB, which opened an 11-point lead at the four-minute mark of the first half before going up 47-32 at halftime. The Blazers would lead by more than 30 multiple times in the second half.

U.S. Integrity, a gambling watchdog outfit, alerted casinos before the game of the unusual wagering movement, the AAC confirmed on Thursday night to Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde, who broke the story. And the story says U.S. Integrity has been keeping an eye on Temple since it failed to cover the point spread 13 times in 15 games from Dec. 2 through Jan. 24. 

"We will review the reports thoroughly in accordance with university and NCAA policies. While we can't comment any further at this time, we take this matter very seriously," a Temple spokesperson said Friday.

If It Looks And Smells Like Something Fishy…

"Where there is a flood of action on a game like that with no significance in the standings and no injury, that is peculiar," OutKick gambling writer Geoff Clark said Friday. "That's weird."

The Vegas Sports Info Network also noticed the point spread frenzy before tip-off. So did others, including college basketball reporter Jim Root.

"I'm not going to say this is point shaving," Root said. "But this is bizarre, especially this late in the season. There are some smart people who think this is fishy."

Root said there was similar betting activity before favored Memphis beat Temple, 84-77, on Feb. 8 in Philadelphia.

"It's weird to see it for a second time with Temple," Root said.

Fast Bucks Before Quick Exit From Season?

What do Temple's players have to play for at this point in the season? Their regular season ends at Texas-San Antonio Sunday (3 p.m., ESPN+) before the league tournament. Barring a miracle AAC Tournament win and NCAA bid, it's over. Why not go into spring break with a little extra cash?

Can't see many of their players raking in the NIL dollars.

U.S. Integrity may also be looking into Temple's 72-67 home loss on Saturday to Tulsa, which came in at 14-14 and 5-11 in the AAC and as a 5.5-point underdog. Yet Tulsa took a 16-4 lead within eight minutes and went on to a 72-67 win. Point shaving, or just a really bad and uninspired basketball team?

We may soon find out.

An Alabama gambling scandal surfaced last year partly because of U.S. Integrity that led to coach Brad Bohannon's firing.