2025 Bad Beats of the Year: NFL and College Football Edition

Every week in both the NFL and college football, bettors, sportsbooks or both bemoan some form of a bad beat. 

Whether it's a spread pick, a moneyline bet, or a wager on the total points scored — there's always one occurrence that affects a few bets. 

Throughout the course of an entire season, a plethora of these unfortunate breaks pile up.

That's why we've decided to break down the most eye-popping bad beats of the year in both sports. Let's take a look:

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College Football

Penn State -42.5 vs Nevada, O/U 54.5, Week 1

Penn State appeared to be cruising to a comfortable win over Nevada in its season opener. 

Nicholas Singleton rushed for two touchdowns, Drew Allar threw for 217 yards and a score, and the Nittany Lions defense forced three turnovers.

Bettors backing Penn State to cover the massive spread (42.5–44 points) and those banking on the Under (54.5–56.5) were feeling safe — until one scoring drive changed everything.

With less than four minutes left, Nevada mounted a 94-yard drive, capped off by a touchdown and a successful two-point conversion.

What looked like an easy cover evaporated as the lead dropped to 35.

Over bettors, on the other hand, benefited from the final scoreboard, which ended at Penn State 46, Nevada 11, totaling 57 points.

What seemed like a straightforward win for Penn State turned into a textbook backdoor cover scenario — and a reminder that in betting, one final drive can upend that ticket in your hand.

Ole Miss -8.5 vs Kentucky, Week 2

Ole Miss looked well on its way to not only winning, but covering the spread. The Rebels kicked a 36-yard field goal with 1:10 left, stretching their lead to 10 points, and bettors riding Ole Miss -8.5 were feeling confident the cover was locked.

Then came the twist. 

With 13 seconds left, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin called timeout, after Kentucky had already burned all of its timeouts. That gave the Wildcats a chance to set up Jacob Kauwe for a 39-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining, making the score 30-23.

The kick was meaningless for the outcome — Ole Miss still won comfortably — but it swung the betting outcome in a huge way.

Kiffin even acknowledged the fallout on live TV:

"Sorry to a lot of gamblers there at the end," Kiffin said.

Penn State -47.5 vs Villanova, Week 3

Another large Penn State spread that wasn't covered, which was probably strong foreshadowing for their season.

The Nittany Lions appeared to be cruising to a blowout over Villanova.

Drew Allar threw for 209 yards and a touchdown, Nicholas Singleton added two rushing scores, and the Nittany Lions defense was dominant. 

With that, bettors backing Penn State to cover the massive 47.5 spread were feeling confident with the Nittany Lions up 52-0 late in the game.

Then, everything went left. 

What looked like a lock to cover for PSU evaporated in an instant, as Tanner Maddocks hit Brandon Binkowski for an 8-yard score with 0:00 left on the clock. 

Boom: a 46-point win for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State spread bettors were left holding losing tickets, while Villanova backers (+47.5) got an unexpected gift.

TCU -13.5 vs Colorado, Week 6

With 26 seconds to go in the game, TCU led 28-21, and faced a fourth-and-6 at the Colorado 21-yard line. 

Surely a field goal made sense, right? It was all the Horned Frogs needed to take a two-score lead and essentially ice the game. 

But what TCU needed was not what it wanted. 

Instead of kicking the field goal and going up 10, TCU quarterback Josh Hoover threw a back-corner fade to Eric McAlister for a 21-yard touchdown. 

After tacking on the extra point, the Horned Frogs took a 35-21 lead and the game ended that way. 

And just like that, a straightforward Colorado cover (+13.5) turned into a TCU cover (-13.5) in the blink of an eye. 

Oregon -20.5 vs James Madison, CFP First Round

The Ducks dominated from the jump, jumping out to 27-3 lead with over nine minutes left in the second quarter. After forcing a punt on the following possession, Dan Lanning & Co. only took five plays to drive 80 yards and make it 34-3 with four minutes left in the half. 

The second half was no different, with Oregon jumping to a 41-13 lead after a 45-yard TD pass from Dante Moore to Malik Benson with just under 11 minutes in the third quarter.

But it didn't stop there.

With 7:05 left in the third, the Ducks blocked a JMU punt— leading to a 15-yard TD return to make it 48-13. The game would end up 48-20 going into the fourth quarter, and the Dukes would make it a bit more interesting, scoring a TD with 10:26 left in the game to make it 48-26.

Still, the Ducks would give -20.5 bettors some cushion, kicking a field goal on the next possession to make it 51-26 with just 4:22 left. 

Then, Bob Chesney's team went 99 yards in nine plays. James Madison scored a TD with 1:05 left in the game, making the score 51-34— ruining tickets for Oregon -20.5 bettors. 

NFL

Malik Washington OVER 24.5 receiving yards, Week 3

With Miami trailing late, Washington was involved in a play near the goal line that sparked debate over whether the yardage gained should have been ruled a catch or a rush.

The Over-Under for his receiving yards was 24.5, and on the last play of regulation— he recorded a 14-yard reception that had bettors ecstatic as it put him at 26 receiving yards.

But shortly after the game ended, the catch was changed to a 14-yard rush. Because he caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage, the play was changed. Additionally, it also altered Tua Tagovailoa's passing yards total to 146, which also ruined the ticket for several bettors who took him to eclipse over 150 yards.  

Rams -3.5 vs Eagles, Week 4

Bettors who backed the Rams to cover the 3.5-point spread against the Eagles were probably feeling pretty confident throughout the Week 3 matchup. 

But confidence doesn't win bets.

Down 26-27 with three seconds left in the game, L.A. prepared to kick the game-winning 44-yard field goal, with a Rams win and cover looking likely.

Then, as luck — or bad luck, depending on which side you're on — would have it, the Eagles miraculously blocked the field goal, sparking one of the worst bad beats in a long time.

A missed FG would have still cashed in for bettors who backed the Rams to cover the spread, even with L.A. losing straight up. Remember, all they needed the Rams to do was keep it within 3.5 points.

Then the unthinkable happened.

Jordan Davis, Philly's 330-pound lineman, scooped up the blocked kick and ran it back for a touchdown, securing a 33-26 win for the reigning Super Bowl champions and an Eagles cover.

Philadelphia got the walk-off win, and Rams backers lost big in the most unexpected way. 

Broncos -8.5 vs Raiders, O/U 40.5, Week 14

Denver was an 8.5-point road favorite and led 24-14 with just 1:04 remaining, after turning the ball over on downs at Las Vegas’ 28-yard line. A Broncos win was fairly secure.

What wasn’t secure? The spread and the total.

In the waning seconds, QB Kenny Pickett hit Tyler Lockett on a 26-yard pass, taking the Raiders to Denver’s 33-yard line. That should’ve been it, as Vegas had no timeouts left, and there likely wasn’t enough time to scramble a field-goal unit onto the field.

But Broncos safety Brandon Jones was called for delay of game, stopping the clock and moving the ball to Denver’s 28. Daniel Carlson then booted a 46-yard field goal as time expired, accounting for the 24-17 final.

Not only did the Raiders cover the spread with that kick, but the Over hit as well, on a total of 40.5. Anyone with Broncos -8.5 or the Under got smacked.

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