College basketball betting: Duke is the overwhelming favorite in Mike Krzyzewski's last ACC tourney
Expect more celebration of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski during the ACC tournament.
Duke is the favorite heading into the tournament as Krzyzewski would like his final conference tournament to go better than his last game at Cameron Indoor Stadium did. Duke lost to North Carolina on Saturday in the most-anticipated college basketball game of the regular season. That loss didn’t knock Duke out of the No. 1 spot for the conference tournament, however. The Blue Devils look to have an easy path to the finals on Saturday, March 12.
The ACC tournament begins on Tuesday with three games featuring the bottom six teams in the conference There are four games on Wednesday before the top four teams join the tournament on Thursday. Here's what you need to know if you're placing a bet on any of the action.
Standings
1. Duke (16-4 in ACC, -130 to win at BetMGM)
2. Notre Dame (15-5, +700)
3. North Carolina (15-5, +1000)
4. Miami (14-6, +1400)
5. Wake Forest (13-7, +1000)
6. Virginia (12-8, +1400)
7. Virginia Tech (11-9, +900)
8. Florida State (10-10, +5000)
9. Syracuse (9-11, +5000)
10. Clemson (8-12, +8000)
11. Louisville (6-14, +10000)
12. Boston College (6-14, +15000)
13. Pitt (6-14, +20000)
14. Georgia Tech (5-15, +12500)
15. NC State (4-16, +12500)
The favorites
Duke (-130): Saturday’s loss was Duke’s first since a one-point loss at home to Virginia eight games ago. Five Duke players average over 10 points per game and likely top-five NBA draft pick Paolo Banchero leads the team with 17 points and eight rebounds per game. Duke shoots a remarkable 49% from the field as a team and averages over 80 points per game. The Blue Devils could also end up facing Florida State and Miami in the tournament — they lost to each of those teams in the regular season.
North Carolina (+1000): UNC is riding high after that win over Duke on Saturday night and now has the second-best odds to win the ACC tournament. The Tar Heels were 4-3 in ACC play after a 22-point loss to Wake Forest and have won 11 of their final 13 games to surge into third place in the conference. Armando Bacot missed just one field goal in that Duke game and leads the team in scoring at 16.6 points per game and also pulls down over 12 boards a game.
A long shot to consider
Virginia (+1400): The only similarity between this Virginia team and the great ones of recent years is its pace. Virginia plays exceptionally slow like it always does under Tony Bennett. UVA has lost to NC State by 14 and Clemson by 17 while beating Duke and Miami. If the latter version of the Cavaliers show up, perhaps Virginia can make a run through the bottom half of the bracket to the championship game.
