In the tunnel that leads to the Carrier Dome football field there’s a photo of an athlete with a miserable expression on his face. A bunch of microphones are plunked before him as he confronts reporters, telling them the penalty he must accept after it was discovered he gambled on sports. Next to the athlete, the sign reads ‘You Bet You Lose.’

It’s part of the NCAA’s ‘Don’t Bet On It’ campaign. Listed in the bottom left corner of the poster are gambling prevention hotlines for athletes to call. The sign intends to help Syracuse athletes avert the devastation that past NCAA schools have suffered after players placed wagers on a sport.

The Syracuse men’s basketball team was shocked this year to see its team snubbed by the NCAA and sent to the National Invitation Tournament. Fifty years ago SU might have reacted much differently, SU sociology of sport professor William Pooler recalled.

Half a century ago, the NIT battled the NCAA Tournament for the status of most important postseason college basketball tournament. Additionally the idea of Syracuse selling out Madison Square Garden in New York City would have been ludicrous. The Central New York school was no match for the drawing power of the City College of New York, Long Island University, New York University and Manhattan College. The four New York schools consistently stood atop the NIT and the rest of the college basketball scene.

In 1951 the schools were found to be involved in a gambling ring that stunned the college basketball world. The New York City college basketball scene never recovered.

‘These were college teams that were involved in heavy betting and they were throwing the games to guarantee that the people who wanted to win would win,’ Pooler said. ‘There was a big scandal and from that time on the NIT was never strong again.’