As college football season got underway in full, so did bad beat season

Parlays are big business for sportsbooks — and big trouble for bettors

But about 10 minutes after Powers released his pick, another influential betting entity, Right Angle Sports, released a play on the other side to its paid subscribers, advocating San José State -19. This sent the market careening back the other way, back up to its original line of 21 and beyond, a multi-point yo-yo situation for a college football game between two obscure teams. In most instances, these price movements are invisible, occurring in anonymity, but this time it was out in the open.

This series will examine the impact of legalized gambling on sports, through news coverage, accountability journalism and advice for navigating this new landscape. Read more.

“It’s a very common thing and unremarkable in its own right when considering the influence of the guys betting and number of people watching and betting as well,” Chernoff said in an interview.

Ultimately, those who stood firm with Powers and his Portland State wager cashed their bets when San José State won by just four points, 21-17. The oddsmakers were also big winners. According to Jeffrey Benson, sportsbook operations manager at Circa in Las Vegas, his traders offered the biggest limits they’ve ever offered on an “extra” game (a term used to describe a game between schools from smaller or lesser-known NCAA conferences) because of the “insane two-way action we got,” he explained. “It was roughly eight to 10 times more volume then you see on other generic extra games with the same level of teams.”

Bad beats

College football season got started in full Thursday night, and the back door wasted little time swinging open.

No. 12 Oklahoma State was a 20.5-point favorite over Central Michigan and looked to be comfortably cruising to a cover: The Cowboys led 37-7 in the second quarter and took a 51-15 lead just 37 seconds into the second half. But the Chippewas were the garbage-time champions on this night, ending the game on a 29-7 run and getting into covering range on a 54-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Richardson to Jalen McGaughy with 3:15 left.

Three Super Bowl longshots worth a careful look

Oklahoma State didn’t make much of an effort on its next drive, punting after three running plays, and then went into victory formation after Central Michigan’s ensuing turnover on downs. The final score: 58-44, Cowboys win but Chippewas cover.

That game also was notable for going over its 58.5-point total in the first half, when 59 points were scored.

Later Thursday, Purdue, a 3.5-point underdog to Penn State, had multiple chances to milk the clock with the lead late in the fourth quarter. It failed, miserably.

The Boilermakers had a 31-28 lead and the ball after the Nittany Lions punted with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter. But they proceeded to gain just four yards on five plays — every single one of them a pass — and punted after chewing up only 1:37 of the clock.

Six tips for becoming a sharper sports bettor

But wait! Purdue had another chance to bleed things out after Penn State threw three incompletions and punted on its next drive. Taking over with 4:28 left, the Boilermakers ran the ball only once and again punted after gaining 22 yards. Only 2:06 had elapsed.

Anyone with a Purdue ticket could see what was coming next.

Penn State marched 80 yards in eight plays and took the lead for good on Sean Clifford’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Keyvone Lee with 57 seconds left. Purdue’s last-gasp drive was fruitless and the Nittany Lions won, 35-31, covering by a half-point.

UAB certainly won the Good Sport Award for its actions late in Thursday’s game against overmatched Alabama A&M, but anyone holding an over-60.5 ticket has a bone to pick with the Blazers.

UAB took a 59-0 lead with 1:14 left in the third quarter, and the over seemed to be in the bag. Someone was going to score again, right?

The gambling gods scoff at such hubris. With around five minutes remaining in the game, the Blazers had first and goal from the Alabama A&M 7-yard line, and another score seemed imminent. But then UAB started taking knees and didn’t stop, even taking one on fourth down instead of kicking the over-sealing field goal.

Just wanting to get things over with, the Bulldogs followed suit with knees of their own and the game ended 59-0.

Hawaii trailed Western Kentucky 49-17 when it got the ball for its final drive in the fourth quarter early Sunday morning. The only thing left to decide for gamblers was the total, which was set at 67.5 before the game, and the Rainbow Warriors marched down the field until they faced first and goal from the Hilltoppers 1. The over seemed to be in sight, at least until Hawaii ran these plays to end the game:

— One-yard loss

— One-yard loss

— Two-yard gain back to the 1

— No gain on fourth and goal

Western Kentucky took over and took a knee, and the under hit.

This guy’s parlay was just one gut-punch after another:

Looking ahead

Per DraftKings, here are the spreads for some of next weekend’s bigger college games:

Alabama (-20) at Texas

Tennessee (-6.5) at Pittsburgh

Washington State at Wisconsin (-18)

Kentucky at Florida (-4.5)

Hawaii at Michigan (-50)

No, this isn’t a misprint: The Wolverines are 50-point favorites over the 0-2 Rainbow Warriors. According to ESPN, this will be just the ninth game between FBS teams to feature a spread of at least 50 points since 2000 (Alabama was a 51.5-point favorite over New Mexico State last November, covering the spread in a 59-3 victory).

Since 1978, favorites of 50 or more points in FBS matchups are 8-16 against the spread; they’re 4-13 ATS since 1990 and 2-6 since 2000.