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NCAA Tournament bad beat alert: TCU loses to Gonzaga but inflicts ridiculous last-second loss on bettors

NCAA Tournament bad beat alert: TCU loses to Gonzaga but inflicts ridiculous last-second loss on bettors

Ricky Dimon
Ricky DimonAuthor
UpdatedApr 29, 2026
Reading time3 min

March Madness is all about surviving and advancing in the NCAA Tournament, but there is also plenty of madness left over for bettors who are enjoying the games from the friendly confines of their couches.

Or in some cases, not enjoying….

One such case involved anyone who backed Gonzaga on the -4.5 point spread against TCU in the final game of the second round late on Sunday night. Leading by 5 with just 0.7 seconds left and the ball under TCU’s own basket, the Zags looked like a lock to cover. However, with victory in hand they let the Horned Frogs walk the dog all the way up the court. Damion Baugh picked it up halfway between half court and the 3-point line, launched a prayer — just barely getting it off in time — and made it to lose by 2 and cover the spread.

An unmitigated disaster for anyone who had Gonzaga -4.5.

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March Madness bad beats aplenty

The Gonzaga vs TCU game isn’t alone, either, in the department of bad beats. Basically the exact same scenario took place in the first-round game between Alabama and Texas A&M-Corpus Cristi on Thursday. Trailing by 24 points in the final seconds as a +23.5 underdog, TAMCC’s Ross Williams forked up an otherwise meaningless 3-pointer as time expired and drained it to give the Islanders the cover.

Finally, Penn State also joined in the backdoor cover party in its loss to Texas on Saturday. With the Longhorns (-5.5) leading by 7, Marcus Carr inexplicably fouled PSU’s Seth Lundy shooting a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left. Lundy not only made it but also sank the ensuing free-throw, cutting the Nittany Lions’ deficit to 3. So even when Carr made 2 free-throws to ice the game in the final seconds, Texas still won by just 5 and failed to cover.

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