North Carolina Tarheels at Duke Blue Devils Pick and Preview
NC (21-2) at Duke (20-3) – Wednesday, Feb. 11 - 9 p.m. Eastern - ESPN
In a college basketball season where upsets have been regular occurrences and teams bounce up and down in the weekly rankings, a North Carolina-Duke game should provide some stability, as both teams are in their customary positions, in the Top 5 in the national rankings and at the top of the ACC standings entering mid-February.
The third-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels make the short trip to play the fifth-ranked Duke Blue Devils in a Wednesday night game. ESPN will telecast the first of the two regular-season meetings between the ACC rivals at 9 o'clock. North Carolina and Duke are tied for first in the ACC with 7-2 conference records.
North Carolina and Duke will play again March 8 in their traditional regular-season-ending game.
Season Results:Even traditional powers like North Carolina and Duke haven't been completely immune to the ups and downs of this college basketball season.
The Tar Heels lost twice in a three-game stretch in early January, opening 0-2 in ACC play, but they've bounced back strongly. North Carolina has won seven straight games entering Wednesday's Tar Heel-Blue Devil contest. Outside of a three-point win at Florida State, North Carolina has won by 22, 17, 24, 17, 17, and 15 points in that stretch, all against ACC teams.
Duke, meanwhile, roared to an 18-1 start, but the Blue Devils have scuffled a little of late, losing two of their last four games. After climbing to the No. 1 ranking in late January, Duke lost at Wake Forest, 70-68. The Blue Devils followed with an easy win over Virginia, but last week was a shaky one. Duke was hammered at Clemson, 74-47, before pulling out an overtime win at home against unranked Miami, 78-75, on Saturday.
GET THE BEST LINES AT BET JOINT TO PLACE A BET ON THE NC/DUKE GAME This North Carolina-Duke meeting will be an interesting test of the Blue Devils' typically strong performances at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke is undefeated at home this season, while North Carolina has lost only once on the road this season. The Tar Heels handed Duke its last loss at home, 76-68, to end the 2008 regular season. North Carolina also won at Duke in 2007 and 2006. The Blue Devils last win at home in a North Carolina-Duke game was in 2005, when Duke eked out a one-point victory.
Point Spread Records:North Carolina is 3-6 ATS against ACC opponents this season. The Tar Heels have been a double-digit favorite in all but one game this season, when they lost at Wake Forest as a 6.5-point favorite in mid-January.
On the road this season, North Carolina is 4-4 ATS.
In ACC games, Duke is 4-5 ATS, having lost three of its last four ATS. Duke has been favored in every ACC game it has played this season. As a single-digit favorite in ACC games, Duke is 0-3 ATS.
Duke has been an underdog only once this season, winning outright at the Big Ten Conference's Purdue, 76-60, as a two-point underdog in early December. In home games this season, Duke is 6-6-1 ATS.
In the North Carolina-Duke games over the past eight seasons at Cameron Indoor, Duke is 1-7 ATS, only covering the spread as a slight underdog in 2005. The Tar Heels-Blue Devils underdog has won three of the last four games at Duke outright and has covered the number in seven of the past eight seasons.
--2008: North Carolina 76, Duke (-1.5) 68 --2007: North Carolina (-4) 79, Duke 73 --2006: North Carolina 83, Duke (-7) 76 --2005: Duke 71, North Carolina (-1.5) 70 --2004: Duke (-9.5) 70, North Carolina 65 --2003: Duke (-14) 83, North Carolina 74 --2002: Duke (-28) 93, North Carolina 68 --2001: North Carolina 85, Duke (-10.5) 83
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