Red Sox are the odds-on favorites

Now that the New York Yankees have been eliminated from the playoffs, oddsmakers have made the Boston Red Sox serious favorites to win this year’s World Series at +125, followed by Colorado +250, Cleveland +350 and Arizona +500.

But before front-running bettors dig into their pockets, they should take a closer look at the Red Sox matchup against the Indians in the American League Championship Series, which starts today at Boston’s Fenway Park.

Cleveland is listed as an underdog at +155 but according to AccuScore.com, which simulates every pitch and manager tendency 10,000 times, the Indians have a legitimate chance to pull off an upset with the Red Sox registering only a 51.1% chance to advance in seven games.

Behind starting pitchers Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling, Boston has an edge in Games 1, 2, 6 and 7, but Cleveland’s ability to drive in runners in scoring position with two outs (the Indians scored 13 of their 22 runs against the Yankees with two outs) is expected to make things interesting.

Cleveland, which has not lost a series since being swept by the Yankees on Aug. 10-12, had a 31-12 record after Aug. 14 and defeated New York in four games to set up its series against Boston, which won five of seven games between the teams during the regular season.

Some boards still give the Indians respect. Vegasinsider.com still has the Red Sox as favorites to win it all at 6-5, but Cleveland comes in at 9-4, with Arizona at 4-1 and Colorado at 6-1.

Here’s a note for Game 1: The last time the teams faced each other in late August, two of the three games ended with 1-0 scores. The over/under for tonight is 8 1/2 runs.

College football

No. 16 Hawaii (6-0) is an 18 1/2 -point road favorite at San Jose State (3-3) tonight, and the Rainbows have received strong support this week, picking up 71% of the action, according to betting trends.

San Jose State, which was shut out by Stanford, 37-0, early in the season, has won three consecutive games and is 9-3 in its last 12 games against the spread. Hawaii, a scoring machine behind quarterback Colt Brennan, is 6-1-1 against the spread in its last eight games as a road favorite.

Of course, with any game involving the Rainbows, the over/under stands out at 70 points. In Hawaii’s last 28 Western Athletic Conference games, the over is 22-5-1.

College basketball

The college basketball season will officially begin tonight with Midnight Madness, and Vegasinsider.com has tagged UCLA as 4-1 favorites to win the NCAA championship. North Carolina is second at 5-1, followed by Memphis 9-2 and Kansas 8-1. USC is 60-1.

The Bruins are tied with Memphis as No. 2 favorite at Sportsbetting.com, at +700, behind North Carolina at +500. The Trojans are +2,500.

lonnie.white@latimes.com