Top 10 Teams Collide – (8) Wake Forest at (9) Duke
Game-day: 2/22/2009
Tip-off: 7:45 pm est.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons travel to Duke to take on the Blue Devils. Duke hasn’t been all that great lately. They still have a fantastic straight-up record of 21 and 5, but they’ve lost two out of their last three games, to North Carolina and Boston College, and their against the spread record is an underachieving 11-13-1.Their record at home ATS is 6-7-1.
The Demon Deacons have a 20 and 4 straight-up record and are coming off of two very good victories against Georgia Tech, who they beat 87 to 69, and Florida State, who they beat 86 to 63. Wake Forest has been a solid team ATS going 12 and 8. Their record against the spread in away games is 4 and 4.
Here is my personal online betting line for this game.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons +3 ½ -110
Duke Blue Devils -3 ½ -110
Here are a few online wagering trends for this game.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are 6 and 4 against the spread in their last 10 games.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are 4 and 1 against the spread in their last 5 games.
The Duke Blue Devils are 2-7-1 against the spread in their last 10 games.
The Duke Blue Devils are 0 and 5 against the spread in their last 5 games.
Both teams have held the number one ranking in the CBB polls this season. The difference is that Wake Forest is starting to gear up for the NCAA Tournament, by tightening the screws, while the Duke Blue Devils have fallen back to the pack in the ACC Conference.
Duke is still a highly ranked team, but their play lately hasn’t justified it. Besides the losses to North Carolina and Boston College, the Blue Devils needed overtime to beat Miami Florida and couldn’t cover against St. Johns. The Blue Devils were also beaten by 27 points against Clemson five games ago.
All of it adds up to a likely upset. Duke just isn’t as good as either North Carolina or Wake Forest. Wake Forest will prove that on Sunday.
Wake Forest vs. Duke Prediction
I’ll make a wager on Wake Forest to either beat a spread of +2 or higher in the sportsbook or to win against the money-line at +120 or more.
