We were all excited to put 2020 in the rearview for many reasons, and the start of a new year offered a clean slate.

But it took less than 48 hours into 2021 to deliver a soul-crushing loss. In fact, it was a two-for-one kick to the groin serving as a warning that the year ahead wasn't going to be any prettier.

An exciting day of bowl games had a delicious nightcap between No. 5 Texas A&M and No. 13 North Carolina (+7.5, 65.5) in the Orange Bowl. Still recovering from New Year's Eve and an always exhausting holiday season, I turned out the lights, lit a Balsam Cedar candle for the vibes, and settled in for a doozy, loading up on Sam Howell's Tar Heels, with a sprinkle on the under.

North Carolina led 20-17 through three quarters. Cake. I had a 28.5-point cushion on the under and 10.5 on the spread. "GIMME MY MONEY," I shouted at the TV like a complete loser.

A burst of 17 points in under five minutes wasn't ideal, but things still looked good at 27-27, and even better after three successive punts resulted in the Aggies starting a drive at their own 13-yard line with 5:02 left. Even a long touchdown drive would see both bets cash.

Three plays and 83 seconds later, Texas A&M found the end zone. A bit fast for our liking, but North Carolina's attempt to respond fell flat, and that just about sealed it. The Aggies run out the final two minutes, the game stays under, and the Tar Heels cover. "GIMME MY MONEY!"

Well, the Aggies ran alright. But they didn't run out the clock. North Carolina effectively gave up, in sickening fashion, as Devon Achane ripped off runs of 11 and 22 yards. "It's fine, just take a knee now," I pleaded. Why would they?

Achane waltzed into the end zone on the next play to rub all the salt in the wounds. A 31-point fourth quarter - 24 of them by Texas A&M - turned my 2-0 night into 0-2.

They were the first two bad beats of 2021 but certainly weren't the last.

49ers -9.5 (vs. Lions)

It took only a few hours into the 2021 NFL season before an awful, awful taste entered the mouths of bettors. The 49ers and Lions entered the season with very different expectations, which showed through much of this game. San Francisco led 41-17 at the two-minute warning, with its odds of covering surely greater than 99%.

You know what that means? Time to grab a drink and re-fill the snack bowl ahead of the next slate of games. Sound good? Good. Oh, by the way, while you were gone, the Lions scored a touchdown, converted the two, recovered an onside kick, drove 60 yards down the field for another touchdown, and then nailed another 2-point conversion. That's right. A 24-point lead dipped to eight in less than a minute. Just like that, what seemed certain to be a sweat-free win turned into a sleep-depriving loss.

Boise State -13 (vs. Wyoming)

Full disclosure, I had Wyoming +13 in this game. I was at my wife's friend's house for a birthday I didn't want to be at, talking to people I had no interest in talking to. The situation was exacerbated as I tracked this score, seeing Wyoming struggle to piece together back-to-back plays of positive yards, let alone a scoring drive.

When they got the ball back with 59 seconds left and down 16 points, I didn't even care. They had just one play over 20 yards in the game, and the thought of them driving 75 yards in under a minute, with no timeouts, was laughable. I still can't believe this happened.

Wyoming quarterback Levi Williams recorded just 77 passing yards before throwing for 79 yards on the Cowboys' final two offensive plays, completing the miraculous backdoor cover with four seconds left.

Derrick Henry: NFL rushing leader (+400)

We try to look deep down the board in our preseason player prop futures, but it was hard to make a case for anyone other than Derrick Henry when it came to the rushing yards leader market. So I didn't ... sort of. I said the only way Henry wouldn't win is if he got injured and missed more than a few games - something he's never done before in the NFL or college.

Of course, this year would be a first. Henry was running away with the NFL's rushing lead when he got hurt in Week 8, and he hasn't played since. I can't help but feel like this is all my fault.

Flames/Rangers under 5.5

I never knew an October hockey game could hurt so bad. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way. There was little threat to the under with 15 minutes remaining as the Flames - one of the league's best defensive sides - sat on a 2-0 lead. A reader at the game actually DM'd me on Twitter thanking me for the play.

Fast forward six minutes, and the Flames are up 4-1. Things became quite uneasy, but the pace absolutely died with Calgary blowing the doors open. Neither side threatened, and it looked like both were ready to run out the clock before Filip Chytil took a high-sticking penalty with 1:36 remaining. I wasn't even worried. The Flames slowly moved the puck around, going through the motions, not even putting out their top power-play unit. They just wanted to end the game. Then disaster struck.

A Calgary dump-in took a weird bounce off the boards, popping out in front of the net and forcing Igor Shesterkin to cover up with 11 seconds left. Dillon Dube won the ensuing draw back to Rasmus Andersson, whose point shot resulted in a juicy rebound that Andrew Mangiapane banged home with five seconds to go. Pain.

Florida State +9.5 (vs. Clemson)

Clemson came into this game 0-7 ATS, meaning there was plenty of reason for bettors to fade the overvalued Tigers.

When Clemson took a 24-20 lead with 2:53 left, those who took the points with Florida State were in decent shape. The Seminoles got the ball back, but after two sacks resulted in fourth-and-32, they punted to Clemson to figuratively run out the final 82 seconds, clinch a victory, and a Florida State cover. However, the Tigers didn't do that and punted with 23 seconds left.

This unfortunate play also pushed the game over the total, giving Clemson its first cover of the season.

Illinois -5 (vs. Ohio State)

Few things are more terrifying as a bettor than watching a scorned 3-point shooter line up behind the arc with nobody in front of him as the clock winds down ... with absolutely nothing at stake.

You know, like C.J. Walker in the waning seconds of Illinois' win over Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament title game. The Illini had already put the finishing touches on the Buckeyes to assure themselves a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. So who could blame Walker for padding the box score a bit and baiting the committee into thinking, "Hey, maybe Ohio State did keep it closer than the final score suggests?" ...

... or maybe a 23-year-old simply decided to twist the knife into the hearts of everyone who (rightfully) laid the points on Illinois. It hurts all the same.

Patriots +3.5 (vs. Cowboys)

I'm no mathematician, but when the Patriots took possession with 2:42 left and a 21-20 lead, +3.5 bettors had, like, a 97% chance of cashing their tickets. What ensued was absolutely disgusting and rather difficult to relive.

Instead of running three straight plays, New England decided to throw following a delay of game penalty, with Trevon Diggs intercepting a Mac Jones pass and returning it for a touchdown. The next play? New England responds with a 75-yard touchdown. That should have sealed the cover, but the Patriots successfully made their 2-point conversion after the Cowboys missed theirs, leaving the door slightly open for a Dallas field goal to tie it and push the game to overtime.

Of course, that's what happened, with Greg Zuerlein hitting from 49 yards after the Cowboys converted fourth-and-4 earlier in the drive. However, Patriots bettors could finally breathe easy when New England won the overtime coin toss. After its drive stalled at midfield, Dallas got the ball back at its own 20-yard line, needing just a field goal to win the game. A few plays later, this happened:

This was the first of three games this season where a favorite of more than three points covered in overtime - the first time that's happened since 2002. But the Cowboys remain the only team to do so after losing the coin toss. Fun.

Rams -16.5 (vs. Texans)

In hindsight, this line could have been Rams -23, and it still would have been a good bet. That's how thoroughly this team destroyed the Texans through three quarters, at which point Los Angeles led 38-0 and was a mere 15 minutes away from validating those who laid the points.

Surely the Rams were safe from a backdoor cover, right? After all, Texans quarterback Davis Mills had gotten off to one of the worst starts we've seen from a rookie quarterback in recent memory, and he'd led his side to exactly zero points through the first three quarters.

The first touchdown was a given. The second one was excusable. But it's that third score - which came after an inexplicable onside kick attempt from a team still down by 24 points with five minutes left - that really tortured the soul, only to set up the inevitable 2-point conversion to cut it to 16. The Rams even had a chance to answer, but they mustered just two of their 467 total yards before punting away all hopes of a fair and just outcome.

Texas A&M team total over 67.5 (vs. LSU)

Up 66-60 with 8:50 left in College Station, Texas A&M had a better chance of hitting 100 points than staying under 67.5. Heck, I could have put a team together with my buddies to play the final 8:50 and we'd have gone over the total. But the Aggies? Not them.

They finished 0-for-15 from the field and 0-for-1 from the free-throw line with two turnovers over the final 8:50 in a 78-66 loss. You could replay those final nine minutes 100 times, and the Aggies would go over 67.5 every single time. I sincerely hope your year turned around if you happened to be on this over because this beat is so bad I still can't even fully comprehend it. Who goes 8:50 without a single basket? Dixie State doesn't even go that long without scoring against Gonzaga.

Wizards/Celtics first half over 114.5

Missing a wide-open layup to swing the balance for total bettors is bad enough. Missing two of them is downright criminal. So you can't blame over bettors for wanting to pursue charges against Wizards star Bradley Beal, who botched two layups so open that even his teammates laughed at him.

Do you know who wasn't laughing? Anyone who bet over 114.5, which looked like a stone-cold lock until Beal's late flub. The only thing worse than the misses was the fact he converted the bucket right as the halftime buzzer sounded - as if to remind jilted over bettors what could have been.

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Everyone loses bets. Most of us lose bets daily. But regardless of the monetary value attached to them, not all losses are the same.

We all know those bets - the ones that go so awry they leave you humiliated and humbled. We're talking about the takes so bad they have us questioning our entire process and wondering if we know anything at all.

We like to think we've made some pretty good calls [link to fav bets or nice list] this year, but here are the bets we made in 2021 that were equally as bad:

Angels to win the World Series (+5500)

I didn't actually think the Angels would win the World Series, but I did think 55-1 was a terrible price - one I couldn't pass up. I expected Los Angeles to reach the postseason, at which point I could easily hedge. Turns out 55-1 wasn't a generous price. In fact, it was too short.

The Angels hovered around, or below, the .500 mark for the bulk of the campaign before throwing in the towel in September. L.A. never even threatened to push for a playoff spot, wasting Shohei Ohtani's historic season. This would have been a bad bet at 75-1.

The worst part? I ignored all the preseason chatter about Ohtani being a great MVP value at 50-1, which I genuinely agreed with, and decided I would put my money on his club instead. My logic? If Ohtani truly did have an MVP-caliber campaign, the Angels - with Mike Trout alongside him - would be a playoff lock. So instead of holding a 50-1 winner on Ohtani, I held a 55-1 loser on the dumpster team he carried from the basement to mediocrity.

Hardly my finest hour.

- Alex Moretto

Bears to win the Super Bowl (+5000)

Transport yourself back to February 2021 when the Buccaneers were fresh off a Super Bowl victory behind a new quarterback and a stacked roster around him. "You know who that sounds like?" I told myself. "The Chicago Bears!"

That was months before the Bears decided their new quarterback wouldn't be Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson, or even Carson Wentz. No, Chicago would settle for Andy Dalton and pair him with rookie Justin Fields behind one of the worst offensive lines in football. How'd that work out?

My biggest mistake, in hindsight, was thinking this squad was a quarterback away. Allen Robinson and David Montgomery haven't even been discount stars, let alone productive ones, while the Bears' talent-rich defense (or so I thought) has allowed 24.9 points per game. Even Tom Brady would have had trouble elevating this group, which is likely still a few years away.

- C Jackson Cowart

Ben Simmons to win MVP (+25000)

Look, you can never be too mad about a 250-1 long shot, especially one on a player as talented as Ben Simmons. But you almost couldn't script a worse start to a season than what we've seen from Simmons, who demanded a trade in August, was kicked out of practice and suspended in October, and is away from the 76ers with no end in sight. Not exactly what you'd hope to see from an MVP hopeful!

The worst part was just how effusively I praised the value of this ticket - which, in hindsight, would have been better spent on quite literally any other player in the league. I guess that just means he'll be an even bigger value next year ... right?

- Cowart

Chiefs -3 (Super Bowl vs. Bucs)

Betting against Brady is rarely a fun proposition. He consistently gets the most out of his supporting cast, and he sure did have a good one in Tampa Bay - the team was essentially flawless. The Bucs ranked top-five in DVOA on both sides of the ball, and despite having the best quarterback of all-time calling shots in the biggest event in sports, I backed the Chiefs as favorites. Boy, did I pay for it.

Kansas City fell behind 21-6 in the first half and was never really in the game, resulting in a 31-9 Tampa victory. And I really didn't have much reason to expect anything different. The Bucs, with an elite defense and top-tier offense, neutralized the Chiefs' exceptional offense and exposed their pedestrian defensive unit. It seems so simple in hindsight, but the aura of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City offense blinded me. Lesson learned.

- Todd Cordell

Kraken to win the Stanley Cup (+20000)

The price is not the problem here. Many projection models had the Kraken as a playoff contender. In that regard, it'd be ignorant not to throw at least some lunch money on Seattle. But this bet couldn't look much worse.

The Kraken rank 28th in wins, points, and goal differential. The squad doesn't have much firepower up front, and its goaltending has been mind-numbingly bad. Netminding was supposed to be a strength - Seattle brought in a Vezina finalist from a year ago - but given the unrivaled variance at the position, I probably shouldn't have backed a team whose biggest strength was supposed to be its play between the pipes.

- Cordell

Loyola-Chicago ML -300 (vs. Oregon State)

Keep the emotions out of it - it's the number one rule of sports betting. And yet, after Loyola-Chicago knocked off Illinois in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament - wiping out my 100-1 Illini futures ticket - I bought into the Ramblers days later as big favorites against Oregon State.

Unable or unwilling to acknowledge that Loyola-Chicago merely played its best game of the year or that Illinois played its worst, I paid the price as I watched the Ramblers stink it up against the Beavers, beating me for the second time that week. It was Betting 101, and I failed the pop quiz.

- Matt Russell

Mike Zimmer to win Coach of the Year (+2500)

Before the season, I thought that instead of betting the Vikings to win the division at +275, you might as well take Zimmer to win Coach of the Year at 10x the payout. If Minnesota won the NFC North, he would likely get credit for the team's success. I stand by the premise. Even with hindsight, the Vikings could have won the division. Just look at its losses:

However, the issue isn't that Minnesota has lost several close games, it's that the losses are almost entirely a direct result of poor coaching from Zimmer. Not only has he not done a good job, but he also seems helpless when the contests get close late - which they inevitably do, courtesy of a baffling gameplan whenever the Vikings jump out to a lead. Minnesota has led by at least six points in every game this season but sits at 7-7 thanks to Zimmer's ineptitude.

That adds some rich irony to a Coach Of The Year bet.

- Russell

Oklahoma to win the National Championship (+800)

Unlike my Angels future, I firmly believed in Oklahoma winning the National Championship. It's not even that I just thought the Sooners had a chance - I legitimately thought they were the favorites behind Lincoln Riley, Spencer Rattler, and what I told people was "a roster absolutely loaded at every position."

Oklahoma was -150 to win the Big 12, and I thought even that was disrespectful. Nothing was going to stop this juggernaut from waltzing to a conference title, playoff berth, and a likely Natty. Fast forward four months and Rattler has transferred to South Carolina - like, seriously?! - after being benched halfway through the campaign, and the Sooners aren't even playing in a New Year's Six bowl. Congrats on the Alamo Bowl, though, Oklahoma. Impressive stuff.

The season started badly as the Sooners scraped out a 40-35 victory against Tulane as 31-point favorites. Oklahoma rattled off nine straight wins to start the year, and each one was less convincing than the previous. At no point did the Sooners resemble anything close to title contenders before Baylor finally put them out of their misery. Lincoln Riley couldn't leave town fast enough, and the bulk of their star-studded 2023 California recruiting class followed suit. I feel like I am entirely to blame for cursing the Oklahoma football program.

At least with Riley gone, I won't be suckered into wasting more money on the team next year.

- Moretto

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You know those teams who get smoked every time you bet them, and they crush every time you fade? Yeah, you're not alone.

We all have those teams and players we can't seem to peg down - the ones who have no regard for our bankrolls - and that's why we have the naughty list.

The following teams and players were especially bad to us in 2021 and deserve nothing but coal in their stockings.

Alabama Crimson Tide, Illinois Fighting Illini (NCAAB)

If you're betting responsibly, no one game should hurt your bankroll. Ideally, we'd like to avoid a bad run with a team as well. So I'll focus on a pair of great futures bets that needed epic failures when it mattered most to somehow prove unprofitable.

In the depths of the COVID-dominated summer of 2020, I made two NCAA Tournament champion bets: Alabama 125-1 and Illinois 110-1. I watched both teams excel over the season, march hand-in-hand up the rankings, and find themselves with No. 2 and No. 1 seeds, respectively. Based on seeding, the basic expectation was a Regional Final for both, at which point it would be an easy hedge to lock in a profit. If only it were that easy.

First, Illinois fell victim in Round 2 to Loyola-Chicago, which was painful to watch. At least the Tide survived through the first weekend in what was perceived as the easiest region.

I watched in horror the following Thursday as Cinderella UCLA hit every mid-range shot while Alabama's best player battled foul trouble. In one last tease of hope, the Tide hit a buzzer-beater to force overtime, only for the Bruins to pull away for the victory.

Would Alabama have beaten Michigan like UCLA did? I think so. Would it have given Gonzaga the game the Bruins did in the Final Four? There's no way to know - though the irony is not lost on me that the Tide beat the Bulldogs handily in Seattle this season. Either way, I'd have liked to find out.

Two of the best futures bets I will ever make in my life resulted in zero profit. Naughty, indeed.

- Matt Russell

Atlanta Braves

You know that one team you just can't believe in, no matter how many times they spite you? That was the Braves for me after they clawed their way back from a below .500 record in August to somehow win the NL East despite losing their best player in Ronald Acuna Jr. in July.

I didn't believe in them when they entered the playoffs as 12-1 long shots. In fact, I bet against them in every round and told you to make a bet, as well. This team couldn't really pull it off with a contact-heavy rotation and strikeout-happy lineup, right? The fluky power surges had to end at some point ... right?

Of course not. It felt almost personal when Atlanta torched my World Series tickets on the Brewers (50-1) and Astros (20-1) en route to one of the most uninspiring title runs in recent memory. I refuse to acknowledge that the Braves actually won the World Series this year, even if my wallet knows differently.

- C Jackson Cowart

Boston Bruins

This is so gross I don't even want to relive it. The Bruins were a wagon down the stretch of the 2021 season after acquiring Taylor Hall, and I was all in. This team profiled as legitimate Cup contenders, and I didn't see them running into much trouble until at least the third round. I hit them at +1300 to win the Cup and doubled down on them to come out of the East at +165 and +200.

After comfortably beating the Capitals in five, I think I blacked out. As if I didn't already have enough to gain from Boston beating the Islanders, I decided to push in all my chips. I loaded up on the Bruins as big favorites in Round 2, betting their series price of -204 and -1.5 (+100) series handicap. A huge mismatch is what I dubbed it. In fact, I wrote: "It's hard to see New York charting a path to Round 3 without Sorokin significantly outplaying Tuukka Rask." You know where this is going.

Up 2-1 in the series, Rask tore his hip labrum - kind of significant for a goalie, I guess - and Boston thought it was a good idea to keep playing him! And because this isn't a Disney movie, he didn't put in a miraculous performance to lead his team to victory. No, the Bruins dominated the remainder of the series but lost three straight with Rask unable to make a save. The Isles won in six, and I got more rinsed than a dishrag.

- Alex Moretto

Dallas Cowboys

The 2021 NFL season was a bloodbath for survivor pool players. With a little luck, and even more strategy, I was still alive heading into Thanksgiving with 137 entries left competing for a $6-million prize from a field of 4,000.

It wasn't the first time. I know it's cheating, but I'm counting Thanksgiving 2020 along with Thanksgiving 2021 as part of this exercise. Since this contest requires a Thanksgiving Day selection, I planned to have the biggest favorite available: the Cowboys. Sure, their blow-out loss to Washington in 2020 knocked me out, but as 7-point favorites against the hapless Raiders this year, it was a no-brainer to go back to the well ... only to fall in.

You saw the game, you know what happened; Missed kicks, a strangely effective Raiders offense, and a parade of flags, including a dubious pass interference on third-and-18 in overtime that would have otherwise forced a punt with plenty of time for Dallas to drive for a field goal.

Last season I won the rest of our mapped-out games, and this season my plotted path remains undefeated so far. There's a very good chance my record will be 36-2 over two seasons, with the two eliminating losses being the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. Naughty? Sure. Just plain gross with a $6-million prize pool up for grabs? Definitely.

- Russell

Dallas Stars

The Stars were an absolute roller coaster during the 2021-shortened season, and for all the wrong reasons. It seemed like they were on the wrong end of the most crushing defeat possible every night. Up 3-0 heading into the third period? Dallas would find a way to blow it in the dying seconds and lose in extra time. Down 3-0 heading into the third? Fear not, this team will fight. The Stars would erase huge deficits with ease, getting my hopes up before losing 15 seconds into overtime.

In hindsight, I should have avoided betting on a team whose best player - arguably, anyway - in Roope Hintz was a game-time decision every night. To this day, I remain scarred from the emotional trauma this team put me through.

- Todd Cordell

Gonzaga Bulldogs (NCAAB)

Much like Russell's NCAA Tournament horror story, I entered this year's tourney well-positioned for a big payout thanks to well-timed futures bets. Except I wasn't banking on two massive long shots: I was invested in half the field.

That's right, I had a title ticket on 32 of the 64 teams in the tournament - including 14 of the top 16 seeds - and the value increased for 25 of those tickets after I bought them. That included ridiculous values on No. 1 Michigan (80-1), No. 2 Iowa (50-1), No. 2 Alabama (80-1), No. 6 USC (100-1), and No. 8 Loyola-Chicago (300-1).

The elephant in the room was top overall seed Gonzaga, which blitzed its way to a perfect season and looked like the biggest (only?) threat to my perfectly crafted portfolio. So I placed a sizable futures wager on the perennially disappointing mid-major giant at short odds and picked the Bulldogs to win every office pool, auction, and tournament game thereafter.

You know how that went. My entire portfolio went up in flames by the Elite Eight except for Gonzaga - which miraculously survived its Final Four test against UCLA on one of the greatest shots I've ever seen - before Baylor demolished the Zags on a sad Monday night in April. I've never felt so smart going into a sporting event and so dumb after it.

- Cowart

Najee Harris

I don't know whether to blame Harris, offensive coordinator Matt Canada, or the Steelers' offensive line. Frankly, it's not Harris' fault. However, this is a results-driven business, so he'll have to shoulder the blame regardless of the underlying issue because I'm hurt, and someone needs to hear about it.

Harris was coming off a three-game stretch in which he produced 98 yards per contest when Derrick Henry went down with an injury. Harris looked primed to have a monster second half. Volume is king, and he was getting a ton of it. With an opening in the rushing leaders market, I scooped up all the Najee I could. Turned out he peaked early. Hampered by predictable play-calling and a miserable offensive line, Harris hasn't generated much since, including a 12-carry, 39-yard game against the Chargers' league-worst run defense in which I bet the over on both his attempts and rush yards.

Those are two of the many Harris props I seem to have lost this year. I've been as useless betting his anytime TD props as a urinal in a nunnery. He had scored in five straight ahead of a mouth-watering matchup against the Lions, where I unloaded on him to find the end zone. He did, only for it to be called back for holding. That was fun.

There are some players you just can't seem to win on, no matter what, and Najee is clearly one of them for me. Good thing he's got another 10-plus years in this league.

- Moretto

Seattle Kraken

The Kraken gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling as a new NHL franchise, one with plenty of forward-thinking minds in the front office and - more importantly - beautiful jerseys! The feeling disappeared very quickly.

I saw the Kraken had an edge in most of their games for about the first month of their inaugural season. How did they repay my faith? By losing significantly more often than not. It wasn't necessarily because they played poorly and were overmatched. No, that'd be too easy to accept. They continually lost due to horrifically bad goaltending from Philipp Grubauer. Seattle's big-money star and supposed backbone of the team - months removed from a Vezina nomination - couldn't stop a beach ball. He routinely got shredded early, which is problematic considering the Kraken have won just one of the 14 games they've trailed after 20 minutes.

- Cordell

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