ACC Games to Bet: Get Ready for First Duke vs Carolina Clash
There is nothing quite like a Duke and North Carolina matchup, especially when both teams are ranked in the top 10 in the national polls. That is the game being played on Saturday that will be generating the most attention.
The home team won both of the ACC games played on Wednesday so keep that in mind when it comes to making college basketball picks.
The Duke-North Carolina showdown is one of the four ACC games on Saturday between teams with winning records.
North Carolina, Virginia, and Wake Forest are all undefeated at home while UNC joins Duke, Florida State, Boston College, and Pittsburgh as the ACC teams with winning road records.
North Carolina is sixth and Duke is 18th in the NCAA NET rankings, one of the tools used to select and seed the NCAA Tournament. No other ACC team is in the top 30.
North Carolina remained third in both national polls while Duke went from 12th to seventh in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls. No other ACC team is in the Top 25 though Virginia is receiving votes in both polls.
When looking at the odds of winning March Madness, North Carolina moved from +2800 to +1200 as it has the best odds of winning the national championship among ACC teams. Duke is next among ACC squads at +2200.
1. Virginia Tech (13-8, 10-11 ATS) at Miami (14-7 SU, 11-8-2 ATS)
- Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 3, noon ET
- Virginia Tech vs Miami Live Stream: TBS.com
Virginia Tech saw its three-game winning streak ended with a 10-point home loss to Duke and now comes a trip to meet a Miami team trying to find its game after a run to the 2023 Final Four.
Miami has won the last three games against the Hokies and the last time the Hurricanes welcomed Virginia Tech to town, the Hurricanes won 92-83 as a 3½-point favorite.
Virginia Tech’s leading scorer Sean Pedulla is just 7-for-23 from the field in his last two games. He averaged 18.5 points in the two games against the Hurricanes last season.
Nochad Omier has four consecutive double-doubles for Miami as he is putting up 21 points and 12.3 rebounds per game during that stretch.
Miami is 6-5-1 against the college basketball spread at home while Virginia Tech has covered in only one of five road games.
2. Duke (16-4 SU, 10-9-1 ATS) at North Carolina (17-4 SU, 13-8 ATS)
- Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 3, 6:30 p.m. ET
- Duke vs North Carolina Live Stream: TBS.com
It doesn’t get much better than this as both teams are in the Top 10 in the national polls and are a combined 6-3 against teams in the Top 25 in the Associated Press poll.
Duke has won three games in a row and is coming off a 10-point road win against Virginia Tech as Jeremy Roach had 16 points off the bench while Kyle Filipowski finished with 14 points and eight rebounds despite dealing with four trouble for the third game in a row.
Duke gets a road win over Virginia Tech! 😈 pic.twitter.com/3gWTxcC2jW
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 30, 2024
North Carolina suffered its first ACC loss of the season to Georgia Tech despite once holding an 11-point lead. The Tar Heels shot under 40% from the field and 29% on 3-pointers to give Georgia Tech the chance to steal the game. Naithan George’s layup with seven seconds to play gave the Yellow Jackets the lead and RJ Davis’ with 2 seconds left was no good.
That result means that Duke can pull even in the loss column atop the ACC standings with a win on Saturday.
Duke has won the previous two matchups after North Carolina took four of the previous five games. Seven straight games between Duke and North Carolina had finished over the total before the last two landed under.
Duke is 2-3-1 against the Las Vegas odds on the road. Just two of Duke’s road games landed over the total.
3. Syracuse (14-7 SU, 9-12 ATS) at Wake Forest (13-7 SU, 10-9-1 ATS)
- Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 3, 7:45 p.m.ET
- Syracuse vs Wake Forest Live Stream: TBS.com
Syracuse looks to move over .500 in the ACC but it will mean winning for the third time this season on the road. Wake Forest is 11-0 at home so it will be no easy task for the visiting Orange.
Three of the last five games between the teams were decided by three points or less and that included the most recent game when Wake Forest played host to the Orange.
Syracuse has won four of the last six road games against the Demon Deacons but it was Wake Forest that won the most recent matchup with a 77-74 win on the road as a three-point favorite.
Both teams are coming off losses with Syracuse losing at Boston College despite 18 points each from Judah Mintz and JJ Starling. Wake Forest got 22 points from Hunter Sallis but that was not enough in a 77-72 loss at Pittsburgh.
Four of Syracuse’s six road games went over the total while Wake Forest leads the ACC with an 8-2-1 record against the spread at home.
Questions Of The Day
Which ACC team has the best record against the spread so far this season?
North Carolina is 13-8 against the Las Vegas odds this season. In conference play, Florida State leads the way with a 7-2 ATS record.
Which team has the longest active winning streak in the ACC
Virginia has won five games in a row to move into third place in the ACC standings.
