New York Yankees
ACC Games to Bet: Title Still Up for Grabs
Duke kept its ACC title hopes alive by rolling past visiting Louisville and Virginia strengthened its hold on third place with a hard-earned road win over Boston College on Wednesday. With most teams having just three conference games left, nine teams have winning marks in ACC play.
The top five teams in the ACC are a combined 66-9 at home so keep that in mind when it comes to making NCAAB picks.
The Virginia-Duke matchup might be the best of seven ACC games scheduled for Saturday. It is one of four games between teams with winning records.
Wake Forest is the only ACC team still undefeated at home. Duke, North Carolina, Clemson and Pittsburgh all have winning road records.
North Carolina moved up one spot to No. 9 in The Associated Press poll and went from ninth to eighth in the USA Today coaches poll. Duke is 10th in both national rankings. No other ACC teams are in the top 25 in the two national polls.
North Carolina is ninth and Duke is 13th in the NCAAB NET rankings, one of the tools used to select and seed the NCAAB Tournament. No. 23 Clemson and No. 27 Wake Forest are the only other ACC teams in the top 30 followed by No. 46 Virginia.
When looking at the odds of winning March Madness, North Carolina is tied for sixth at +1800 and has the best odds of winning the NCAAM championship among ACC teams. Duke is next among ACC squads at +2500.
Here’s a look at three ACC games to watch this weekend.
1. North Carolina State (17-11, 12-15-1 ATS) at North Carolina (22-6, 16-12 ATS)
- Date/Time: Saturday, March 2, 4 p.m. ET
- TV & Live Stream: ESPN
RJ Davis set the Smith Center record with 42 points and North Carolina needed almost every one of them to hold off Miami on Monday to remain in first place in the ACC standings.
The new Smith Center record for most points in a single game ➡️ RJ Davis @ariidavis_ pic.twitter.com/cK68QlXmMy
— Tar Heel Tapes (@TarHeelTapes) February 27, 2024
DJ Burns had 19 points to lead North Carolina State past Boston College in its most recent game.
When North Carolina topped North Carolina State 67-54 on Jan. 10 as a three-point road favorite, it was the Tar Heels‘ fifth win in the last six meetings with the rival Wolfpack. It was the third straight game between the teams to go under the total.
North Carolina State hasn’t won in Chapel Hill since 2018.
North Carolina is 7-6 against the spread at home this season. North Carolina State has covered in just three of its nine road games. The Wolfpack is tied for second in the ACC with 17 of their games going over the total.
2. Wake Forest (18-10 SU, 15-12-1 ATS) at Virginia Tech (15-13 SU, 12-16 ATS)
- Date/Time: Saturday, March 2, 5:30 p.m. ET
- TV & Live Stream: CW Network
This is a matchup of teams that are combined 27-2 at home but just 3-17 on the road so that could spell trouble for the visiting Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest stumbled against Notre Dame after its emotional win against the visiting Duke Blue Devils as leading scorer Hunter Sallis was just 2-for-11 from the field in the five-point loss.
Virginia Tech has dropped its last two games, losing by 15 points to Pittsburgh and by 13 points to Syracuse. Both the Panthers and Orange shot better than 50% against Wake Forest.
Wake Forest topped Virginia Tech in late December with the 86-63 victory extending the Demon Deacons’ winning streak against Virginia Tech to three games. All three of those contests went over the total.
Fourteen of the last 16 games between the teams went over the total.
Wake Forest has a 3-7 record against the Las Vegas NCAAB odds on the road. Virginia Tech is 9-5 ATS at home.
3. Virginia (21-8 SU, 15-13-1 ATS) at Duke (22-6 SU, 16-11-1 ATS)
- Date/Time: Saturday, March 2, 6 p.m.ET
- TV & Live Stream: ESPN
Although Duke is ahead of Virginia in the ACC standings, this game probably means more for the visiting Cavaliers, who are very much on the bubble when it comes to earning a spot in the March Madness bracket.
Virginia snapped a two-game losing streak as Reese Beekman had 18 points and eight assists in a 72-68 win over Boston College on Wednesday.
Although he had just nine points in a win over Louisville, Duke‘s Kyle Filipowski was able to return to the court. He collided with on-rushing Wake Forest students as they stormed the court after the Demon Deacons defeated Duke.
Jeremy Roach had 19 points and six rebounds as Duke pulled within a game of first-place North Carolina in the ACC standings.
The teams have split the last six meetings, with Virginia winning its most recent trip to Durham. Each of the last five times that Virginia played at Duke, the game was decided by either one or two points.
Duke is second in the ACC by covering in 10 of its home games. Virginia has seen 12 games land over the total, the second-worst mark among ACC programs.
Questions Of The Day
Which ACC team has the best record against the spread?
Pittsburgh is 16-9-3 against the Las Vegas NCCAB odds. In conference play, Notre Dame is 11-6 against the spread.
Which team has the longest active winning streak in the ACC?
Clemson, North Carolina and Syracuse have all won three games in a row while Miami has dropped its last seven games.
