ACC Weekly: Title at Stake in UNC vs Duke Clash
About the only thing set in stone heading into the final weekend of the regular season in the ACC is that Louisville is going to finish in last place. Longtime rivals North Carolina and Duke are separated by one game at the top of the standings. The second-place Blue Devils welcome North Carolina to town in one of the games those who bet online are keeping an eye on this weekend.
The top seven teams in the ACC are a combined 96-17 at home so keep that in mind when it comes to making NCAAB picks.
The North Carolina-Duke matchup is not the only game in town with the Clemson-Wake Forest and North Carolina-Pittsburgh games worth keeping an eye on as well.
Wake Forest was the last ACC team to lose at home, losing to Georgia Tech as 13½-point favorites in its most recent home contest. Duke, North Carolina, Clemson and Pittsburgh all have winning road records.
North Carolina moved up two spots to No. 7 in The Associated Press poll and went from eighth to seventh in the USA Today coaches poll. Duke is eighth in the coaches poll and ninth in the AP rankings. No other ACC teams are in the top 25 in the two national polls.
Duke is ninth and North Carolina is 10th in the NCAA NET rankings, one of the tools used to select and seed the NCAA Tournament. No. 24 Clemson, No. 41 Wake Forest, No. 43 Pittsburgh, and No. 50 Virginia are also in the top 50.
When looking at the odds of winning March Madness, North Carolina leads the ACC and is tied for sixth nationally at +2000 in the odds of winning the NCAAM championship. Duke is next among ACC squads at +2200.
Here’s a look at three ACC games to watch this weekend.
Clemson (21-9, 17-12-1 ATS) vs Wake Forest (18-12, 15-14-1 ATS)
- Date/Time: Saturday, March 9, 6 p.m. ET
- TV and Live Stream: ACC Network
Clemson is a game out of third place in the ACC standings, but also a game out of seventh place. Wake Forest happens to be that team sitting in seventh place.
Both teams are looking to be included in the March Madness bracket and the winner of this game will move one step closer to that happening.
As the teams prepare for their one and only scheduled meeting this season, Wake Forest looks to tame the Tigers for the second straight matchup after Clemson won 10 of the previous 11 games.
Ten of the last 15 games between the teams finished under the total.
Wake Forest leading scorer Hunter Sallis is averaging 20.4 points at home as he is connecting on 54% of his field goal attempts and 46% of his 3-pointers at home.
PJ Hall is averaging 23 points and seven rebounds over his last two games for a Clemson team that has won four of the last five games.
Clemson has the best record against the spread in the ACC this season and also set the pace with an 8-3 ATS mark on the road. Wake Forest tops the ACC with an 11-4-1 record against the NCAAB odds at home.
North Carolina (24-6 SU, 17-13 ATS) vs Duke (24-6 SU, 18-11-1 ATS)
- Date/Time: Saturday, March 9, 6:30 p.m. ET
- TV and Live Stream: ESPN
If North Carolina and Duke both had losing records going into the final game of the regular season, it would still be a must-see matchup. The stakes are much higher with North Carolina looking for the outright ACC regular-season title with a win at Cameron Indoor Stadium. A win for Duke would give the Blue Devils a share of the regular-season crown.
Both teams took care of business earlier in the week with North Carolina rolling to the 84-51 win against Notre Dame to easily cover as a 16½-point favorite. RJ Davis and Armando Bacot combined for 36 points in the win.
🎥: Win Column 🆚 Notre Dame pic.twitter.com/Yc0heqky1c
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) March 7, 2024
That came a day after Duke went to Raleigh and handed North Carolina State a 15-point loss, led by Jeremy Roach with 21 points.
After Duke swept the two games between the teams last season, North Carolina took the first meeting of the 2023-24 campaign 93-84 in early February with Bacot and Harrison Ingram both recording double-doubles. It was the eighth time in the last 10 meetings to go over the total.
North Carolina has won three of its last four games at Duke.
Duke is tied for the ACC lead by covering against the Las Vegas odds in 11 of its home games. North Carolina is 6-3 ATS on the road.
North Carolina State (17-13 SU, 13-16-1 ATS) vs Pittsburgh (20-10 SU, 18-9-3 ATS)
- Date/Time: Saturday, March 9, 7:45 p.m.ET
- TV & Live Stream: CW Network
Pittsburgh has very quietly moved into a tie for fourth place in the ACC standings with one game left to play.
The Panthers have gone 3-1 since a humbling loss to Wake Forest, and finishing 12-8 in the ACC during the regular season would be a nice accomplishment. Ben Hinson has 46 points and nine 3-pointers in the last two games as the Panthers defeated Boston College and Florida State to remain alive in the quest for a top-four finish in the ACC.
North Carolina State heads into this matchup on a three-game losing streak. Playing North Carolina and Duke back-to-back played a role in the three-game skid. Leading scorer DJ Horne had 10 straight double-digit scoring games before being held to eight points in the loss to Duke.
When Pittsburgh won 67-64 as a three-point road underdog last month, it was the third win in a row against North Carolina State. NC State had won the previous 12 matchups before the Panthers turned the tide.
Three of the last four games between North Carolina State and Pittsburgh went under the total.
North Carolina State has covered in just four of its 10 road games. Pittsburgh is 10-6-1 ATS at home after leading the ACC by going 11-6 ATS at home a season ago.
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Questions Of The Day
Which ACC team has had the most games land over the total this season?
Boston College and Florida State have had 19 games go over the total heading into the regular-season finale.
Which team has the longest active winning streak in the ACC?
North Carolina has won its last five games while Duke and Georgia Tech are riding three-game winning streaks.
The odds and predictions in the article are based on the time of writing and publication. They may differ as to when the actual event takes place.
