College Basketball Odds: Duke Favored Over North Carolina In ACC Season Finale
The ACC regular season schedule closes Saturday night with a battle for the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament as the Duke Blue Devils host the North Carolina Tar Heels as 7.5-point favorites on the college basketball odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Duke saw a five-game straight-up win streak halted with Monday’s 64-63 loss at Virginia Tech as a 5-point favorite, but the No. 5 squad in the AP Top 25 rankings remains one game up on UNC in the hunt for second place in the conference standings going into the Tar Heels vs. Blue Devils betting matchup Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The 12-5 Blue Devils stormed to 11 consecutive straight-up after opening the campaign atop the national championship odds as +400 favorites. However, the team is just 6-4 SU in its past 10 conference clashes, including an 82-78 road loss to UNC as 1.5-point underdogs on February 8. That extends Duke’s middling record against the Tar Heels to 2-3 SU in five meetings.
Defending national champion North Carolina saw a six-game tear stopped with Tuesday’s 91-88 loss to Miami as 10-point home chalk. However, the No. 9 Tar Heels have impressed in three straight road wins, and can clinch second place and the No. 2 tournament seed with a win in Saturday’s regular-season finale. A victory would also mark the first time UNC has tallied consecutive wins over the Blue Devils since March 2009 and would help bolster its March Madness odds, which slipped slightly this week to +1600.
With this week’s win over Duke, the 10-7 Hokies maintain a slim chance of claiming the No. 3 ACC Tournament seed as they visit the Hurricanes as 3-point underdogs. Virginia Tech has exceeded expectations while avoiding consecutive defeats during its current 8-3 SU run. The Hokies have also tallied four outright wins as betting underdogs during that stretch, including a stunning 61-60 win over the top-seeded, and top-ranked, Virginia Cavaliers as 12-point road underdogs on February 10.
Miami’s upset win over UNC extends their current win streak to three. The Hurricanes can lock up the No. 3 seed with a win over the Hokies, combined with victories on Saturday by Duke, Syracuse, and North Carolina State.
The 7-10 Orange will be hard pressed to help the Hurricanes, as they take a three-game SU slide into their clash with No. 18 Clemson as narrow 1.5-point chalk, while the Wolfpack try to vie for a fourth-place finish in the conference standings as they host the slumping Louisville Cardinals as 3.5-point favorites.
