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A home-win over Florida State and two losses by Louisville allowed for Duke to move back into first-place this past week.
The Dukies had dreams of an outright regular season conference championship and No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but NC State had other ideas, as the Wolf Pack delivered their best Tyson Fury impersonation en route to knocking out the Blue Devils 88-66.
The loss sent Duke (23-4, 13-3 ACC) back to a share of second-place with the previous mentioned Seminoles, and moved the Devils back to a half-game behind Louisville for first-place atop the conference standings.
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This week the Blue Devils head back on the road to face Wake Forest on Tuesday (Feb. 25), before visiting defending National Champion Virginia on Saturday (Feb. 29).
From a betting perspective, the most recent stumble by the Dukies has had minimal impact on their odds in the futures market as they are still the short favorite to win the ACC Tournament at +215. They remain +1100 odds to win the NCAA Tournament.
Up Next:
February 25: at Wake Forest (11-15, 4-12 ACC); February 29: at Virginia (19-7, 11-5 ACC)
Louisville Odds after the Cardinals Move Back into First Place as Rematch with ‘Noles Looms
Chris Mack’s Louisville’s Cardinals (23-5, 14-3 ACC) used a little home cooking to right the ship and end a two-game losing skid in blowout victories over Syracuse and North Carolina last week.
The pair of victories, coupled with Duke’s loss to NC State, vaulted Louisville back to the top of the ACC standings, just in time for their highly anticipated game against Florida State.
Should Louisville go on to beat Florida State on Monday and sweep their remaining two-games against Virginia Tech and Virginia, the Cardinals would be guaranteed no worse than a share of the regular season championship with Duke – of which they would get the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament due to a 79-73 win over the Blue Devils on January 18th.
A Louisville loss on Monday to the Seminoles on the other hand would give Florida State (23-4, 13-3 ACC) the inside track to a share of the ACC regular season crown, and potentially give the Noles a crack at a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Oddsmakers remain mostly high on the Cardinals and Noles both, as they are each listed at +300 to win the ACC Tournament a few weeks from today.
Up Next:
Louisville – February 24: at Florida State (23-4, 13-3 ACC); March 1: vs. Virginia Tech (15-12, 6-10 ACC)
Florida State – February 24: vs. Louisville (23-5, 14-3 ACC); February 29: at Clemson (14-12, 8-8 ACC)
Virginia Sweeps Pair of Games to Strengthen Bubble Position
After early struggles in the ACC left Virginia sitting at 4-4 in conference to start the year, the defending National Champions have been on a tear of late winning seven of their last eight games.
It’s this most recent winning streak that has Virginia (19-7, 11-5 ACC) looking like a safe bet to once again qualify for the NCAA Tournament and have a shot to defend their crown.
The Cavs look to make some noise in the ACC first.
This most recent surge has the Cavs sitting in 4th in the ACC, three games ahead of a glut of schools vying to secure one of the conferences double-byes in the conference tournament. Should they get that double-bye, you’d really like Virginia’s +700 odds to win the ACC Tourney.
Wednesday, Virginia travels to Blacksburg to face in-state conference rival Virginia Tech before returning home on Saturday for a highly anticipated game against Duke.
Up Next:
February 26: at Virginia Tech; February 9: vs. Duke
NC State Works Itself Back on to the Bubble… For Now
NC State (17-10, 8-8 ACC) began last week looking for a win to boost their at-large NCAA Tournament hopes and got one on Wednesday when it handed 6th ranked Duke an 88-66 beat down.
The win was short-lived however as the Wolf Pack went on to fall to #8 Florida State 67-61, leaving NC State with the task of needing to win at least three of their last four games to get into the position to secure an at-large bid.
A decent showing in the ACC Tournament will likely also be required for Kevin Keatts Wolf Pack to break into the field of 68.
Beyond NC State, there is work to be done for the likes of Notre Dame and Syracuse, with Clemson needing a deep run in the ACC Tournament and strong finish to the season to merit any consideration from the committee.
For now though, it looks like outside of the Top 3, only Virginia and NC State have a realistic chance of joining their friends in the NCAA Tournament.
Oddsmakers have NC State at +1000 to win the NCAA Tournament and punch their ticket to the dance.
The rest of the ACC odds as we enter the last week of February looks like this:
North Carolina +4000
Notre Dame +4000
Virginia Tech +4000
Clemson +5000
Miami (FL) +5000
Pittsburgh +5000
Boston College +10000
Wake Forest +10000
ACC Betting Nuggets
- Louisville OVER is 8-4 in their L12 games
- Duke OVER is 10-2 in their L12 games
- Florida State is 4-1 ATS in their L5 games
- Virginia OVER is 6-2 in their L8 games
- NC State UNDER is 10-3 in their L13 games
- Notre Dame is 7-3 ATS in their L10 games
- Syracuse OVER is 9-2-1 in their L12 games
- Clemson is 4-1 ATS in their L5 games
- Georgia Tech OVER is 5-1 in their L6 games
- Boston College OVER is 4-1 in their L5 games
- Virginia Tech is 1-9 ATS in their L10 games
- Miami, FL in 5-2 ATS in their L7 games
- Pitt is 2-7-1 ATS in their L10 games
- Wake Forest is 7-3 ATS in their L10 games
- North Carolina is 2-12 SU in their L14 games
Best Sportsbook 2020
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