Bettors’ nerves can get spread thin late in games

For bettors who like to put money on college football games, last weekend’s games were nothing special. Just a few point-spread nail biters. Business as usual for oddsmakers.

For example, Penn State was a 25-point favorite over Temple and Coach Joe Paterno’s Nittany Lions held a commanding lead in the final minutes of the blowout.

The Owls, however, put together their best drive of the second half and had first and goal at the Penn State five-yard line with less than three minutes to play.

Temple, which has made considerable progress under second-year Coach Al Golden, appeared ready to spoil a shutout for the Nittany Lions.

But four plays and a point-spread defensive stand later, Penn State had the ball back. The Nittany Lions won, 31-0, and so did bettors who supported the heavy favorite.

Then there are games such as Northwestern’s victory over Indiana.

The Hoosiers trailed, 31-28, but had possession at the Wildcats’ 34 with 22 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. On the next play, Indiana quarterback Kellen Lewis fumbled and Northwestern recovered to end the game.

So instead of scoring a winning touchdown or an overtime-forcing field goal, the Hoosiers came up empty. Point spread for the game? Indiana was favored by 2 1/2 to three points.

So how do oddsmakers do it?

“We analyze the activities, preparation habits and performance for teams, players and coaches over the course of a five-year history,” said Reed Richards of BetUs.com. “We do the same for stats -- not just current ones.”

Oddsmakers pride themselves on being up-to-date with regard to sports news and developments. But in determining odds, it’s not all about injuries and past performances.

People who put together lines know all about “weather, pop culture news-related items and new technology,” Richards said. “Our main goal with each line we post is that we have the most accurate information to determine them.”

Pro basketball

The Golden State Warriors are 0-5, but they have been a rock solid over/under pick heading into their game against Detroit tonight in Oakland. The over is 5-0 in games featuring Baron Davis and the high-scoring Warriors.

Boxing

Because boxing matches can be decided by judges, bettors can sometimes feel cheated when a controversial decision has been reached.

That was the case Saturday night in a fight between lightweight Joel Casamayor and Jose Armando Santa Cruz on the undercard before Miguel Cotto’s win over Shane Mosley at Madison Square Garden:

Although most boxing experts scored Cruz with an easy win, Casamayor was given a split-decision victory by the judges.

The odds before the fight? Casamayor was favored on boards at 2-5 to 11-10 and Santa Cruz was listed at 7-4 to 13-4. A draw was posted at 18-1 to 22-1.

lonnie.white@latimes.com