Posted on
2/6/2008 6:57:04 PM
NCAA Basketball Betting – Duke at North Carolina
By Charles Jay
In what is perhaps the most heated rivalry that exists in college basketball, the Duke Blue Devils (19-1 SU, 12-6-1 ATS) take themselves from Durham to nearby Chapel Hill to take on the Tar Heels of North Carolina (21-1 SU, 15-4 ATS) ina game between two of the nation's best teams.
In the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds, the Tar Heels are listed as a four-point favorite.
Here are some of the NCAA basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* DUKE is 6-0-1 ATS in its last seven games
* DUKE has won its last nine games SU
* DUKE has played its last five games OVER the total
* DUKE has covered six of its last nine road games
* NC has covered four of its last six gams
* NC has played four of its last six games OVER the total
* NC has won 12 of its last 13 home games SU
* NC has won and covered the last four meetings
* DUKE has won 16 of the last 22 meetings SU
* NC has covered four of the last five meetings as the home team
* DUKE has won seven of the last ten meetings SU as the visitor
* NC has had the rebounding edge in each of the last eight meetings
* DUKE has made more three-pointers in each of the last six meetings
In this titanic ACC showdown, featuring the second and third-ranked teams in the country, the story would seem relatively simple - Duke is a team that is deeper than last year's bunch but is not blessed with a lot of useful size, while North Carolina has one of the nation's more industrious inside scorers in Tyler Hansbrough (21.8 ppg, 10.4 rpg).
Both teams play a very high octane brand of offense, though Duke is going to rely more on the three-pointer (making nine per game). The Blue Devils have their troubles at the free throw line, shooting less than 70%. And North Carolina has won and covered each of the last four times these teams have played.
But the dynamic for this one may be a bit different. For the Tar Heels to run their offense, they need fluidity both in the running game and the half-court offense. That will be upset with the probable absence of Ty Lawson, the talented point guard who has a high ankle sprain. North Carolina may have to go with third-string point guard Quentin Thomas as a result, since backup Bobby Frasor has been lost for the season.
With all hands not on deck for Roy Williams' team, we're going to go with the Blue Devils to break that four-game series losing streak and come away with the straight-up win as the four-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds, this time WITHOUT bloodying Hansbrough's nose, as they did last time.
JAY'S PLAY: DUKE
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(Charles Jay of TotalActionExtra.com gives it the old college try as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)