The Question — Worst Last-Minute Betting Beat?

After several minutes of discussion and heaping amounts of confusion, Sunday’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers ended in an 11-10 Steelers win. The game’s final few seconds were screwed up by a touchdown following an attempt by the Chargers, trailing by one, to lateral the length of the field for a touchdown. When the Steelers scooped up an errant lateral, they returned the fumble for a touchdown to go up 17-10.

After a review that confirmed the call, referees ruled that the play was dead when a Steeler recovered the fumble, thus nullifying the touchdown. Final score: 11-10, Pittsburgh.

The only problem? The referees made the wrong ruling and Pittsburgh should have been awarded the touchdown and a 17-10 win.

Normally, this is like arguing over whether John Daly or John Rocker is a bigger screw-up. It’s not that important and nobody really cares.

Except with the blown call, the Steelers no longer beat the betting line of between 4 and 5 points, depending on the line.

Experts have estimated that bettors nationwide lost about $66 million on the misunderstanding of a simple football rule.

So for this week’s question: What’s the worst odd-ball last-minute sporting moment that turned the betting world upside down?

I’ve asked around and rummaged the ‘Net and gone through the greatest depths of my mind to come up with four major options:

First, there’s Sunday’s snafu, which threw around more money in one hour than the NASDAQ these days.

Second, we have the Music City Miracle, in which the Tennessee Titans reversed the spread of a few points by converting a late touchdown on a cross-field kickoff lateral that sent the Buffalo Bills home from the playoffs.

Third, there is Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook’s most infamous touchdown he never scored. Last season, Westbrook intentionally fell at the goal line in a game the Eagles were winning to run out the clock. The game might not have swung the betting line (Dallas was a 10-point favorite and losing), but the collective groan of fantasy football owners everywhere was heard loud and clear. Given the Westbrook non-score (which was a brilliant football move) was in Week 15, hundreds of playoff games in fantasy football might have been altered without six points from Westbrook.

But finally, there’s what I believe to be the biggest last-minute odds change — an irrelevant half-court heave that swung up to $100 million.

In the 2004 NCAA men’s basketball tournament semifinals, Duke guard Chris Duhon threw up a meaningless 3-pointer as time expired with the Blue Devils trailing by four. The 38-footer went in, putting the final score at 79-78.

Little was made of the shot during the game, but Duhon’s prayer answered the prayers of all those Duke supporters who took the Blue Devils at a line of between two and four points. It was estimated that between $30 and $100 million was transferred because of the shot.

That’s more than Duhon will ever make in his career.

All these moments are what make me happy that I don’t bet on sports.