We officially have the first bad beat of the NCAA Tournament and it comes courtesy of the Arizona Wildcats.
The 2-seed in the West was a massive favorite over 15-seed Long Beach State, who punched it’s ticket to the Big Dance with a Cinderella run in the Big West tournament. The 49ers were one of the best feel good stories in quite some time, earning the conference’s automatic bid despite being +1000 to win the title. Additionally, they fired their head coach before the tournament, but allowed him to continue coaching, making them a fascinating story as March Madness got underway.
After holding its own early on, Long Beach State didn’t put up much of a fight in the second half of a 20-point, 85-65 loss. However, it was Arizona backers who were heartbroken as the 2-seed closed as a 20.5-point favorite.
What made it a particularly bad beat was that the Wildcats seemed like a surefire bet to cover toward the end of the game. Instead, Arizona scored only three points in the final 4:40. Meanwhile, Long Beach State scored seven over that span. The cherry on top was Arizona dribbling out the clock in the final seconds, although that’s not all that surprising considering the game was out of hand.
The public took a beating as a result. The Wildcats were a popular bet to cover with 66% of bets and 63% of the money backing them. Arizona was profitable all year against the spread prior to the bad beat, going 21-12-0. Long Beach State was only 15-16.
