How crazy has the COVID marred college basketball betting season been to see the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils unranked heading into the first of two scheduled regular season meetings on Saturday night? The year was 1950 the last time these hated rivals opposed one another off a loss and unranked for crying out loud! It’s hard to fathom, but neither of these programs will be making much of any noise come the Madness of March. Neither team is truly any good. That is unless either squad catches fire and makes a deep run in the ACC Tournament or wins it outright. As poorly each team has played to date, the odds of that occurring are extremely long with the Heels installed +575 choices to cut the nets down in the conference tournament while the Dookies offer up an even more attractive +1000 return. Both squads just might be playing for pride on Saturday night with Coach K’s kids lined short home favorites to score a fourth straight win against their hated rivals that dates back to when Zion Williamson still made his home in Durham.
Take this ACC matchup in live on ESPN at 6 p.m. ET from Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, February 6, 2021. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on Saturday’s college basketball schedule.
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Odds Analysis
Roy Williams’ kids went into Tuesday night’s visit to Littlejohn Coliseum playing some of its best ball of the season taking three straight from Wake Forest, NC State and Pittsburgh. They went for 75+ points in each matchup and went on to cover the closing pointspread twice. Then all of a sudden the bottom dropped out with the team seeing its three-game win streak go up in smoke after scoring a season-low 50 points against the Clemson Tigers. The loss moved UNC to 2-4 SU and 1-5 ATS on the ACC road. Duke also saw its two-game SU and ATS win streak get snapped in shocking fashion last time out after losing outright to an undermanned Miami Hurricanes squad it went off the board favored to beat by double-digits. The loss dropped the Blue Devils to 5-4 SU in ACC play, but it’s taken down Boston College, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Clemson in its four played conference home games (2-2 ATS).
North Carolina Tar Heels
The Heels kicked off their short road trip with a solid 75-65 win and cover at PITT as 3.5-point chalk. Though the offense was putrid from deep connecting on just 4 of 17 attempts, bigs Armando Bacot and Garrison Brooks did as they pleased close to the rim combining for 37 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. That however wasn’t the case against a Clemson defense more adept at limiting success in the paint. Brooks went for eight points and eight rebounds, but Bacot was held to just one point and three rebounds. If not for Day’Ron Sharpe’s 16 points and eight boards, UNC would’ve lost by 20+. Ultimately, 17 turnovers and horrific 5 of 19 and 11 of 21 showings from beyond the arc and free throw line ultimately did them in in the defensive grinder.
Duke Blue Devils
The book on the 2020-21 Duke Blue Devils can’t be this cut and dry; fade them on the road and back them at home. The evidence is hard to argue with the Dookies managing just one win and cover through five road games while going undefeated in front of the Cameron Crazies cardboard cutouts. After laying the wood at home to the same Clemson team that just dominated North Carolina, Duke invaded the Watsco Center heavily favored to extend its win streak to three. But instead of cruising to a fifth straight win and cover against the Canes, the Blue Devils went on to fall by a 77-75 final count. The defense allowed one of the worst offenses in the country to dominate them close to the rim and from deep. It was honestly one of the worst showings of the Coach K era!
North Carolina vs. Duke Prediction
Look for host Duke to be laying in the neighborhood of 4-5 points with the total set in the upper 140s to low 150s. The Blue Devils own the more efficient of the two offenses, but the Tar Heels own the advantage at the other end of the court as well as in the rebounding department. Even so, I can’t help but think Krzyzewski will have his kids way up for this one as disgusted he looked on the sideline watching his kids spit the bit in Coral Gables earlier in the week. At this point, I simply have no faith in Roy being able to work his magic with this year’s installment of the Tar Heels. Not to say the Dookies are great shakes themselves, but at least they’ve made it a point to protect their house. Of the two win streaks recently put forth by these teams, I put more stock in the Dookies. UNC’s best win to date has come against Kentucky, and that’s really not saying much. Duke still shot the ball well against Miami, but the Hurricanes were simply just en fuego. Back home on the comforts of its own hardwood, look for Duke to thrive and take a fourth straight both SU and ATS from their most hated rival.
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