Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US campus) to do badly at work.

1966		Current Sl. I:1 5/1: Tube To fail, to do a poor job.
1975		G. Underwood ‘Razorback Sl.’ in AS L:1/2 55: tube ‘fail.’.

2. (Aus.) to fail, to make a mess of.

1986

C. Bowles G’DAY 99: If something is buiggered, or stuffed and it’s your fault, you tubed it.