CBS’ March Madness coverage was left in disarray on Saturday night after the network’s score bug glitched out during BYU’s win over Wisconsin.
Late in the first quarter of the second-round game at Denver’s Ball Arena, Wisconsin’s John Blackwell sent the score bug into overdrive when he nailed a three-pointer to reduce BYU’s lead to 38-27.
Yet after briefly updating to reflect the new score, the Badgers’ points total began jumping to series of random, incorrect numbers as high as 228.
CBS was then forced to take down the score bug for over a minute before reintroducing it, only for the issue to occur again early in the second quarter.
The repeat problem was caused by another three-pointer, this time from Badgers shooting guard John Tonje; with the on-screen graphic then removed for close to two minutes.
After returning for almost 30 seconds, it was taken down for a third time before coming back in roughly the same amount of time.
CBS coverage of BYU’s win vs Wisconsin was left in disarray when the score bug glitched out
Fans were quick to mock CBS over the error, with one writing on X: ‘“Five straight points for the Badgers.” Looked like a lot more than five.’
‘Someone spilled a drink, lol,’ laughed another.
While one joked: ‘They’re trying to rig it for Wisconsin!’
The broadcasters appeared to fix the problem for the rest of the game as BYU eventually held on for a narrow 91-89 victory over Wisconsin.
The Cougars led the entirety of Saturday’s game but still had to make one, final defensive stop against the Badgers’ irrepressible guard Tonje to seal the win.
Despite the latter scoring 37 points to become the first player to crack 30 this year in the tournament, BYU held on to secure its first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2011.
The third-seeded Wisconsin became the first Big Ten team to lose in a tournament in which the conference started 10-0.
