Hell, it’s the long weekend. There’s enough room for multiple Wolverine controversies. To call Saturday’s NCAA football game contentious is an understatement. Just as it seemed Western Michigan had done in regular Michigan, a bewildering buzzer beater pass to J.J. Buchanan flipped the score. With the game called, a widespread and finicky debate has emerged over whether the play was on the level. Muddying the waters even more is that Kalshi, the popular speculation market, miscalled the game, paying out the wrong wagers and putting themselves in their own legal quagmire.
When the clock hit zero during Saturday’s game, Western Michigan were up by one. However, in a stunning upset a flying hail mary pass was caught by Buchanan right as time ran out. While this would have been disqualifying in an NFL game, NCAA has different rules regarding game time, and the goal was considered legitimate. It was too late for Kalshi, however, as the platform pulled their lever prematurely, dumping the winnings on those who wagered on the losing team.
NEW: Kalshi confirms they wrongly and prematurely settled the "Western Michigan vs. Michigan" market, as if Michigan lost. They clawed back payments to initial incorrect "winners," reimbursed the initial "losers," and then paid the right people. (This market saw $18.6m volume.)
— Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) September 6, 2026
According to CNN’s Marshall Cohen, Kalshi pulled their own upsetting reversal. “Kalshi confirms they wrongly and prematurely settled,” posted Cohen. “They clawed back payments to initial incorrect “winners,” reimbursed the initial “losers,” and then paid the right people.”
According to Cohen, more than 18 million was on the line for this game. While the day after change up seems fairer, it’s hardly the peaceful route. While the winning still exists on their records, Kalshi is removing the mistaken winnings from those users and instead reimbursing them with a $50 credit. If this was standard sports betting, which it sure seems a lot like, the CFTC might frown on this. Because Kalshi is a speculation market platform, where the rules are still in fluctuation, the courts are only frowning more.
Over the summer, many states have begun readying their challenges to platforms like Kalshi, seeking to contain the rampant nightmares these sites can unleash. In fact, it was in Michigan itself where a judge ordered the site to block sports betting back in July. And a mere two days before the game, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina called Kalshi a “sports betting operation masquerading as an investment opportunity.” The judge demands the platform pay $500,000 for every continued day its accessible in the state, though that obviously doesn’t bar the site from faceplanting on games that happen therein.
