Stubhub Canceled a completed sale of rose bowl tickets days before the game Internet

There is no RipOff here.  Would it have been great if you got the $0 ticket..sure, but a majority of your post is how you doubted it and kept checking so you knew something was up.

 I rationizlied the price of zero dollars as some kind holiday spirit.

- When you rationalize..you try to convince yourself of "rational LIES". 

Oh and as for the "FanProtect Guarantee".  Did you even read it?

• If you do not receive the tickets you ordered on or before the expected delivery date set forth in the email you received when you placed your order:

  StubHub will, in its sole discretion, attempt to locate and facilitate delivery of your tickets, provide you with comparable or better replacement tickets at no additional cost, issue you a refund for the cost of the tickets, including service fees and shipping and handling charges, or issue you a FanCode (coupon) for use on a future purchase. "Comparable or better" replacement tickets are determined by StubHub in its sole discretion based on cost, quality, availability and other factors. You must comply with the StubHub User Agreement, policies and emails we send you regarding your order, including any timelines or procedures to notify StubHub.

http://www.stubhub.com/guarantee/

You will notice there are a few sections I underlined.  Mainly that in your case that if you don't get the tickets(which you won't) they at their sole discretion can just issue you a refund and by using their service you MUST comply with them.