Not only did Syracuse not cover. That is, there was never a danger of not covering up, to overtime.
Syracuse was an outsider with 8 or 8.5 points at BetMGM against North Carolina on Monday night and almost won straight. Somehow, Orange didn’t cover the spread.
There are bad beats from garden varieties like the pointless 3-pointer that goes into the buzzer, but the worst type of beat can be having a healthy outsider play well for two halves and then somehow not covering overtime. Syracuse bettors know.
The Oranges took a 9-0 lead to start the match and while UNC made a few series after that, the Syracuse bettors had to feel good until the end of the second half. North Carolina hit with 3 points, remaining 11 seconds to take the lead with 2 points. If he had missed, Orange would probably be covering (and UNC would probably be on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble, but that’s a different conversation). Syracuse then rushed down and struck a nice blow to level it. The Orange bettors at this point found themselves in a strange place in the hope that Syracuse missed this shot and lost by 2, covering the spread. However, having 8 or 8.5 points in your pocket is usually good for overtime and especially after how well Syracuse plays.
On the other hand, experienced bettors probably knew exactly what was coming.