Maryland: Gambling-Related Probes Revealed by Temple, Loyola

The expansion of sports betting across the United States enabled bettors and sports fans alike to wager legally on professional sports, as well as collegiate games, where permitted. But the growth of the legal betting sector continues to raise concerns about the impact on professional and college games with several scandals emerging in the last year alone.

Notably, close to two dozen Iowa State and Iowa athletes were tangled in a betting probe that resulted in charges and penalties, including fines and NCAA ineligibility. The aforementioned case came to a somewhat conclusion with some athletes pleading guilty while others seeing their gambling charges dismissed.

In the same line of thought, now details regarding a couple of incidents emerged, this time from Pennsylvania and Maryland. On Friday, Temple University in Pennsylvania announced that in light of media reports, it will review a game played between the Temple University Owls and the UAB Blazers. The game in question was played on Thursday with UAB winning against the Owls with 100-72.

What was strange about the game is that the UAB started at a 2.5-point favorite, before the betting line changed a couple of hours after sportsbooks started accepting wagers. Ultimately, the betting line increased to 8 points, something that caused suspicion.

Subsequently, Temple University issued a statement revealing: “We are aware of the media reports regarding last night’s men’s basketball game.” Moreover, the University wrote: “We will review the reports thoroughly in accordance with university and NCAA policies,” adding that it cannot disclose further details and confirming that it continues to investigate the topic.

Loyola Takes Action after Gambling Regulations Breach

In a separate incident, the Loyola Maryland men’s basketball team reportedly announced it identified a violation of the rules related to gambling. As announced by The Associated Press, Loyola uncovered an individual who breached the gambling regulations. The violation, it said, was disclosed to the NCAA.

“Loyola was made aware of an individual’s gambling violation that was promptly reported to the NCAA. The individual was immediately removed from the program, and the NCAA accepted the self-report and took no further action,“

reads a statement by the Loyola University Maryland

Taking action, Loyola reportedly removed the person responsible for the violation from its basketball program. It said that considering the swift action and self-report, the NCAA didn’t take further action regarding this case. The University did not confirm who the person who breached the gambling regulations was, what precisely the breach involved or when it occurred.