by Sports betting is both a gift and a curse. Most of the time, it’s not even necessarily about having fun, but rather having hope and riding with your friends for the sole intent of catching a thrill and cashing in that bet slip.
Having said that, this past college football season, like any other year, had its fair share of excitement and heartbreak. Today, I want to focus on the heartbreak part and review some of the worst bad beats of the 2023-24 college football season in the gambling stratosphere.
Note: there will be a handful of bad beats that I miss, so drop a comment if I missed one!
Week 1: West Virginia +21 vs Penn State (or Under 48.5)
What a terrible way to kick off the college football season if you were pulling for the Mountaineers and/or the under.
WVU made it a 31-15 ball game with 3:36 left before the ensuing onside kick attempt dribbled out of bounds, giving Penn State starting field position at the WVU 46. Next thing you know there’s less than 15 seconds left with Penn State’s second and third string in the game and West Virginia decides to call a timeout. Many head coaches would just simply kneel it, but what does James Franklin do next play? He calls a QB draw up the middle, where backup Beau Primula trotted into the end zone on a five-yard TD run to make it a 38-15 ball game.
Absolute heartbreak for WVU and under bettors in the first primetime game of the year.
Week 1: Oregon State at San Jose State Under 56.5
Another gut-wrenching under killer in the opening week of the season. Trailing 42-10 late in the game, all San Jose State had to do was drain the clock and move onto the next game. That’s before the Spartans drove down the field in garbage time and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass with FIVE seconds remaining to cash the over and make it a 42-17 final. It was one of the very few Sunday games that week, so you damn well know a lot of people had money on this west coast matchup.
Week 4: Texas at Baylor Over 49.5
The game total was already at 44 with three minutes remaining in the 3Q when Texas led 38-6 and muffed a punt on their own 18-yard line. Baylor took over, but failed to convert a 4th and goal touchdown on the first play of the 4Q. No worries, right?
Five minutes later, the Longhorns drove down to the Baylor 3-yard line before kicker Bert Auburn botched a 26-yard field goal attempt that hit the left upright to keep the score at 38-6. But still, no worries, right?
With 5:40 to go in the game, Baylor was faced with a 4th and 5 on the Texas 20-yard line before wide receiver Ashtyn Hawkins dropped a wide open pass at the first-down marker to turn it over to Texas.
Oh, but we’re not finished.
Two seconds were on the game clock when Baylor had one final play to cash the over as the offense marched down to the UT 4-yard line. That’s before the Bears threw an incomplete pass on a slant route that had touchdown written all over it, but wide receiver Cameron Bonner bobbled the ball before watching it hit the ground.
A horrific bad beat that had over bettors trembling all night long.
Week 4: Ohio State at Notre Dame +3
The odds might have differed for some, but most sportsbooks had Notre Dame as three-point underdogs entering this early-season Saturday night clash.
In what wounded up being one of the best games of the entire year, Ohio State scored a game-winning touchdown on 3rd-and-goal as time (seemingly) expired to go up 16-14.
The touchdown occurred as time seemed to expire, but the referees thought otherwise.
The officials decided to tack one more second on the clock, allowing the Buckeyes to kick the extra point and win by three to push the spread. Pain.
Week 5: Penn State at Northwestern +27
James Franklin strikes again.
Northwestern caught PSU snoozing by making it a 10-10 game at halftime. Leading 27-13 in the 4Q, Nittany Lion running back Kaytron Allen scored a touchdown with 4:00 left to make it a 21-point game. After marching to midfield, Northwestern threw an interception with 2:26 left. All PSU needed to do was drain the clock and pack their bags, but what doid they do? Throw a touchdown pass on the ensuing play to win it 41-13 and win by 28. The O/U in the game was 47.5 too, so I pray for those who had the under.
Week 6: Georgia Tech vs Miami (FL) (-1400 ML)
A big parlay stash for a lot of bettors in Week 6 was undefeated Miami moneyline against a struggling Georgia Tech team at home.
A lot of people probably turned the channel when they noticed that the Canes led 20-17 with 33 seconds left and were in perfect position to just take a knee and secure the win as Georgia Tech had no timeouts remaining. That’s before the unthinkable happened.
Instead of taking a knee, Mario Cristobal and Miami elected to hand the ball off to running back Donald Chaney Jr., who coughed it up to Georgia Tech to give the Yellow Jackets a fighting chance. Four plays later, the Yellow Jackets scored the winning touchdown on a 44-yard pass with one second remaining.
Many holes went through the dry wall that Saturday night in October as the ultimate parlay killer took place at Hard Rock Stadium.
Week 7: West Virginia -2.5 vs Houston
WVU bettors were smooth sailing after quarterback Garrett Greene threw a go-ahead 50-yard TD pass with 12 seconds remaining.
That’s before Houston pulled off the unthinkable when quarterback Donovan Smith launched a 49-yard bomb into the end zone that fell into the hands of receiver Stephon Johnson on the last play of the game to win it.
Week 8: Pitt +1.5 (ML +110) at Wake Forest
Wake Forest was riding a three-game losing streak and starting its third-string quarterback against an underdog Pitt team that was coming off a big upset over then-undefeated Louisville. Easy money on the Panthers, right?
Pitt was ahead 17-14 with less than a minute remaining when quarterback Christian Vellieux ran for what looked like a clear first down, but was somehow marked a yard short.
Wake called a timeout with 45 seconds left, forcing Pitt to punt it. That’s until Wake marched down the field and scored the game-winning touchdown with seven seconds remaining to stun the Panthers and anyone who had them plus-money and/or covering.
Week 11: Utah at Washington -9.5
With Washington up 33-28 in the 3Q, defensive back Alphonzo Tuputala got an INT and had green grass ahead in what it seemed like an easy walk-in touchdown. That’s before he made the bone-headed mistake of dropping the ball prior to crossing the goal line.
After getting a safety late in the 3Q, the Huskies had another chance to cover the 8-point spread in the final two minutes. That’s before Brady Gross’s 32-yard field goal attempt, which would have made it a 10-point game, was blocked. What a brutally bad beat.
Week 13: Georgia State at Old Dominion Over 49.5
Leading 24-17 with 1:25 remaining, Georgia State gave up a safety to cut the lead to 24-19 (total points: 43).
With a simple touchdown and extra point needed to clinch the over, the Monarchs took over at midfield and drove all the way down to the Georgia State 2-yard line with two seconds remaining. On 4th and 2 and the game on the line, Old Dominion scored the game-winning touchdown to go up 25-24, but because time expired and there was a celebration on the field, no extra point was necessary according to the officials.
Total points: 49. The worst bad beat of the Fun Belt in 2023.
Week 12: Illinois at Iowa -2.5
Of course I had to include a bad beat about the Hawkeyes. Iowa took the lead with less than five minutes remaining to go up 15-13 but missed the extra point after the touchdown.
Once the Hawkeyes got the ball back after a turnover with less than four minutes to go. After converting a 3rd and 8 and reaching the Illinois 19-yard line with 2:50 left, Iowa decided to just drain the clock instead of making a last-minute field goal attempt.
Week 13: UConn at UMass Over 50.5
To keep it brief, the Huskies led 19-0 at the beginning of the second half. That’s until a total of five touchdowns were scored in the final two quarters, but there were FIVE failed two-point conversions between the two teams. And because of that, the final score was UConn 31, UMass 18 for a game total of 49…
Famous Toastery Bowl: Western Kentucky vs Old Dominion -4.5
Old Dominion led 28-0 midway through the 2Q and 35-14 early in the 4Q before the Hilltoppers mounted an incredible comeback to win the Toastery Bowl 38-35 OT.
