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March Madness Picks - No. 4 Duke, Virginia Battle in ACC Tourney Opener

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The Virginia Cavaliers and the Duke Blue Devils will both be gunning for a victory on Friday when they meet in their ACC Tournament matchup at Greensboro Coliseum which gets underway today at 12 PM ET.

Friday, March 12, 12:00 PM ET
NCAAB Betting Odds: Duke -17
TV: ESPN2

Virginia (15-15 SU, 11-14 ATS, 6-11 Conf.)
Duke (26-5 SU, 18-10-2 ATS, 13-3 Conf.)

Here is a look at tonight’s key head-to-head trends surrounding this contest.

Favorite is 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings.
Cavaliers are 0-4 ATS in the last 4 meetings.

Virginia 411
Cavaliers are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog.
Cavaliers are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games overall.

Virginia snapped a nine-game losing streak by beating Boston College 68-62 in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday. Sammy Zeglinski scored a team-high 21 points to lead Virginia to victory and help the Cavaliers cash in for March Madness college basketball betting fans as 5-point underdogs.

Duke 411
Blue Devils are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 neutral site games.
Blue Devils are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 neutral site games as a favorite.

Duke scored 53 points in the first half and ran away from North Carolina in its 82-50 win on Saturday. Duke covered the NCAA basketball odds as a 14.5-point favorite as Kyle Singler led the Blue Devils with a game-high 25 points and Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith had 20 apiece in the win.

Analysis: Duke has beaten Virginia four consecutive times, including a 67-47 smackdown on Feb. 28 and is no danger of losing this contest to the woeful Cavaliers.

However, I think the 17-point spread will be just a bit too much for the Dookies to cover this time out.

Duke averages exactly 13 points per game more than the Cavaliers while allowing two fewer points per contest defensively for a 15-point differential between the two teams.

Virginia has been mostly abysmal against the spread this season, but managed to cash in against BC in their last contest and believe they can do it again.

NCAAB Expert Picks: Virginia +17 Points