First things first. We now know that Duke will indeed be in the championship game, but not against Kentucky. Duke will play Wisconsin after the Badgers’ upset win over the Wildcats on Saturday. Ironically, this result makes it more reminiscent of the 1991 Final Four, when the University of Nevada Las Vegas was 34-0 and chasing perfection, as was Kentucky at 38-0 entering Saturday’s game. Duke had lost to UNLV the previous year in the game that you reference, then came back to shock the undefeated Rebels in the 1991 semi-final game. Similarly, Wisconsin lost to Kentucky last year, then came back this year to end the potential perfect season. You can bet that upset brought back some bad memories in "Vegasland."
Back to the line in the 1990 UNLV/Duke championship game, this question was first asked five years ago and we never answered because we couldn’t verify it. Back then it was illegal for the casinos to book Nevada-based teams, so there was no official Vegas line. (The bookmakers were forced to stand around and watch on one of the biggest betting events of the year.) There were also no Internet sports books. Hence, the only line available was from illegal bookies and no one could recall what it was.
Since this year marks the 25th anniversary of that UNLV win, there’s been a lot of coverage in the local media and information about the line has surfaced, but it’s still not exact. An article by Matt Youmans of the LV Review-Journal says, "The line was 3, 3.5, or 4 – that’s one detail no one remembers for certain." UNLV was favored and it was probably all of those numbers at some point. The article also quoted a game total of 171, which is an unheard of number today. But UNLV was a scoring machine whose flash and firepower made them an incredibly popular choice with bettors and fans all over the country -- those who could get a bet down were usually betting the Rebels and over.
Those were the right ways to bet in the final. UNLV won 103-73, setting all kinds of records in the process, including largest margin of victory and highest team score. No team before or after has ever scored 100 points in the championship game. In fact, no team since then has made it to 90.
Anthony Curtis watched the game in the bar on W. Flamingo that’s now Jacksons and describes the scene like this:
I’ve honestly never seen anything like it. People were screaming and crying. It was as if they were collectively starving and had just been issued a comp to the most opulent buffet in town. I don’t recall that the celebrations turned unruly in any way, but the party went on till morning.
Tonight’s championship game opened pick ’em, which means the teams are considered equal and there is no points handicap either way. It didn't budge overnight, then moved to Wisconsin -1, where it currently sits. There’s been some slight movement in the total, but it’s fairly solidly 140. We'll put up the line close to post time this evening in "Today's News."
