Sports betting roundup: USC's win over LSU was only Top 25 upset. PSU romp of WVU surprised bettors

Week 1 of the college football season is in the books, with the exception of No. 10 Florida State vs. Boston College on Monday night, and what a week it was.

There were a number of terrific games, standout performances and a few upsets.

One of the better games was Sunday night’s Modelo Kickoff Classic in Las Vegas, where No. 23 Southern California outscored No. 13 LSU 14-3 in the fourth quarter for a 27-20 upset.

LSU opened as 6 1/2-point favorites but closed as 4-point favorites. At the BetMGM online sportsbook, 64% of the bets and 66% of the money came in on the Tigers. USC coach Lincoln Riley is now 7-1 against the spread as an underdog of more than three points.

One of the biggest matchups of the weekend was Saturday’s game between Georgia and Clemson. Georgia closed as a 12 1/2-point favorite and brought in 68% of the bets and 69% of the money. The game was close at halftime, but Georgia pulled away in the second half to win 34-3 and easily cover.

There were a few bad beats in college football betting. Duke was a 23 1/2-point favorite against Elon and was up 26-0 with 23 seconds left. Elon elected to kick a field goal to make the final score 26-3 and cover. Another was Lehigh as 31 1/2-point underdogs against Army. Up 35-7 with 19 seconds left, Army scored another touchdown to win the game 42-7 and the last-second cover.

The Tour Championship was anticlimactic as Scottie Scheffler won by four shots. Scheffler started at 10 under and finished the week at 30 under. Given his lead, thanks to the starting strokes format, he was +120 to win going into the week. Scheffler brought in 26% of the money and 12.2% of the bets in pretournament betting.

USC’s victory over LSU was the only true upset in AP Top 25 action, but Penn State blowing out West Virginia, 34-12, was a surprise to bettors. West Virginia was a 7 1/2-point underdog and the second-most bet team in terms of bets and money on Saturday.

Although Notre Dame (No. 7) was ranked higher than Texas A&M (No. 20), the Fighting Irish were 3-point underdogs in their matchup Saturday night. Notre Dame came away with a 23-13 victory. In the Marcus Freeman era, Notre Dame is now 5-1-1 against the spread when it's an underdog. The Irish were the third-most bet team on Saturday when it came to the number of bets.

The WNBA is in its final month, and the playoffs are quickly approaching.

The teams are tightly bunched when it comes to championship odds. The Liberty are the favorites at +130 but are closely followed by the Aces (+300), Lynx (+550) and Sun (+600).

A’ja Wilson is a huge favorite to win the MVP at -10000, while rookie Caitlin Clark is +8000.

This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM Sportsbook.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

From left, New York Liberty forward Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (44), forward Jonquel Jones (35), forward Leonie Fiebich and forward Breanna Stewart, right, celebrate in the final seconds during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Seattle Storm, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Seattle. The Liberty won 98-85. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) shoots as Dallas Wings' Jacy Sheldon (4) and Natasha Howard, right, defend in the first half of a WNBA basketball game Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) prepares to shoot between Atlanta Dream forward Lorela Cubaj (19) and guard Jordin Canada (3) during the first half of an WNBA basketball game Friday, Aug. 30, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Scottie Scheffler poses with the FedExCup Trophy after the final round of the Tour Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck (15) throws from the pocket during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Clemson Aug. 31, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were arrested Saturday after Venezuelan officials accused them of coming to the South American country to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.

The arrests were announced on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the nation's powerful interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television program, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the plotters of the alleged plan.

The arrest of the American citizens included a member of the Navy, who Cabello identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez. Cabello said that Gomez was a former navy seal who had served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia. Spain's embassy in Venezuela did not reply to a request for comment on the arrests of its citizens.

The U.S. State Department late Saturday confirmed the detention of a U.S. military member and said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.”

“Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,” the statement said.

The announcement of the arrests comes just two days after the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on 16 allies of Maduro who were accused by the U.S. government of obstructing voting during the disputed July 28 Venezuelan presidential election, and carrying out human rights abuses.

Earlier this week, Spain's parliament recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of the election, angering Maduro allies who called on the Venezuelan government to suspend commercial and diplomatic relations with Spain.

Tensions between Venezuela's government and the U.S. have increased as well following the election, whose result sparked protests within Venezuela in which hundreds of opposition activists were arrested.

Venezuela's Electoral Council, which is closely aligned with the Maduro administration, said Maduro won the election with 52% of the vote, but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.

Opposition activists, however, surprised the government by collecting tally sheets from 80% of the nation's voting machines. The tally sheets collected by the opposition were published online, and they indicate that Gonzalez won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.

Despite international condemnation over the election's lack of transparency, Venezuela's supreme court, which has long backed Maduro, confirmed his victory in August. Venezuela's attorney general then filed conspiracy charges against Gonzalez, who fled to Spain last week after it became clear he would be arrested.

Maduro has dismissed requests from several countries, including the leftist governments of Colombia and Brazil, to provide tally sheets that prove he won the election. Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has long claimed the U.S. is trying to overthrow him through sanctions and covert operations.

The Maduro administration has previously used Americans imprisoned in Venezuela to gain concessions from the U.S. government. In a deal conducted last year with the Biden administration, Maduro released 10 Americans and a fugitive wanted by the U.S. government to secure a presidential pardon for Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally who was held in Florida on money laundering charges. According to U.S. prosecutors, Saab had also helped Maduro to avoid U.S. Treasury sanctions through a complex network of shell companies.

FILE - Socialist Party President Diosdado Cabello gives his weekly press conference, in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, Venezuela, Aug. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses government loyalists gathered at the presidential palace in support of his reelection one month after the presidential vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)