Bettors leaning toward Bruins

Notre Dame should have picked up a spark of hope for its game against UCLA today at the Rose Bowl with Rice’s gallant effort at Southern Mississippi on Thursday.

Not only did the Owls cover as 20-point underdogs, they defeated the Golden Eagles, 31-29, for their first victory. Can Coach Charlie Weis and the Fighting Irish (0-5) pull off the same double against the Bruins (4-1), who are favored by more than three touchdowns?

Bettors are not too sure. According to Sportsbook.com’s betting trend, money rolled Notre Dame’s way early in the week with the Irish getting 60% of the wagers but that changed Thursday night when support for UCLA -- which is favored by 22 1/2 points with a 48 over/under -- surged.

The Bruins went from getting backed by 40% to 66% in a span of 90 minutes. Leading up to the game, Notre Dame bets have picked up some momentum, but the Irish still had attracted only 40% of the action as of Friday afternoon.

Two things of note: UCLA is 8-2 in its last 10 games against the spread and the under is 4-0 in Notre Dame’s last four games as a road underdog of 10 1/2 points or more.

Arizona State and South Florida have made the biggest jumps in the odds to win this season’s Bowl Championship Series national title game, according to VegasInsider.com’s Oct. 1 board.

The 5-0 Sun Devils opened at 100-1 but are now 40-1, and the 4-0 Bulls moved from 250-1 to 60-1.

Other noticeable changes included: USC (3-1 to 8-5), Louisiana State(10-1 to 5-2), Oklahoma (20-1 to 8-1), California (25-1 to 8-1), Florida (8-1 to 10-1), Texas (10-1 to 20-1) and UCLA (30-1 to 60-1).

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Baseball

Since Sept. 16, the Colorado Rockies have not only ripped through opponents but they’ve also taken oddsmakers by storm. In winning 16 of 17 games, the Rockies were underdogs eight times, including two playoff victories over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Colorado is a -155 favorite to close out the division series today with a high total-run line of 11.

The Rockies have scored nine or more runs eight times in the last three weeks.

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Auto racing

Odds favorites for Sunday’s Talledega 500 have remained steady with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon holding down the top spots at 5-1, followed by Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. at 6-1.

A good way to look at the Nextel Cup Series is to prop wager on best finish in a four-man group. The most interesting matchup has Gordon (+110), Johnson (+110), Earnhardt (+175) and Casey Mears (+375).

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lonnie.white@latimes.com