ACC Tournament Odds, Picks & Predictions: Friday (3/14)
It's the fourth day of the ACC Tournament, and it’s time to get real. With the ACC's best set to play in the semi-finals today, fans are in for some great games. We've got a classic rivalry to start the night, followed by Clemson and Louisville facing off. But who to bet on.... we’ve got a couple of ideas there.
Let's go over our betting previews and picks for each game.
- NCAA College Basketball Odds
- NCAA College Basketball Player Props
- NCAA College Basketball Picks & Predictions
- NCAA College Basketball Matchups
Go premium to view top prop bets based on Cover Probability, Expected Value & Star Rating >>
Friday’s Best ACC Tournament College Basketball Picks
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
North Carolina (+250) vs. Duke (-7.5)
The amount of history stepping onto the court for this game is insane. Between Duke and North Carolina, we're talking about 38 Final Fours, 11 National Championships, 53 regular season ACC titles and 40 ACC tournament victories. North Carolina has the advantage in the series with an overall record of 145-119.
Tonight, they play No. 265.
Duke won both regular season matchups this year. The first on February 1st was not pretty for the Tar Heels. The Blue Devils got out to a 47-25 halftime lead and never looked back. They won by 17 points, 87-70. North Carolina put forth a much better effort in the second game on March 8th. At the end of the first half, they were down by a single point, 43-42.
But the second half didn't go quite the same way. Duke took charge, outscoring the Tar Heels 39-27 for a final score of 82-69.
However, there is going to be one major difference in this game compared to the other two - no Cooper Flagg. Duke's superstar sprained his ankle in the quarter-final game versus Georgia Tech.
Duke will not be too concerned about this game, as they'll be much more concerned with Flagg and getting him ready for the NCAA Tournament. That said, they still have an incredibly deep and talented team without Flagg, and they'll play to win. North Carolina will want to take advantage of Flagg's absence and avoid losing to Duke for a third time this season.
I'm not sure they can, but it will be an excellent game. If the Tar Heels fail to win, they will not lose by more than seven points.
Pick: North Carolina +7.5 (-115)
Clemson (-1.5) vs. Louisville (+100)
Louisville earned its spot in the semi-finals earlier in the day on Thursday after surviving Stanford 75-73. The Cardinals were 10.5-point favorites but trailed at one point in the second half by 15 to the Cardinals. The Cardinals didn't end up taking the lead for good until Chucky Hepburn hit a putback jumper at the buzzer.
Clemson didn't have it any easier against SMU. They led by as much as eight in the first half, only to see that lead go down to one before the break. The Mustangs led for much of the second before a layup by Viktor Lakhin with 4:48 left to play put Clemson ahead for good.
How do you pick a winner between two teams that are as evenly matched as Clemson and Louisville? Both went 18-2 in conference play. The Cardinals’ margin of victory this season was 10.8 points; the Tigers' was 11.1. Clemson has a slightly better defense; Louisville has had a slightly better offense.
If you want to pick a winner, I’m leaning toward Louisville. But I don’t have a reason for doing so. That’s why I’m going with the total. Both teams have also been holding their opponents to low scores while not scoring a ton of points themselves. The under is 4-1 for Louisville in their last five and 3-1 for Clemson in their last four.
The under will hit for this game, too.
Pick: Under 140.5 Points (-110)