An ACC title hangs in the balance Saturday when No. 9 Duke hosts No. 7 North Carolina in a bitter rivalry showdown to close the regular season. The Blue Devils seek to avenge a 93-84 loss to the Tar Heels on Feb. 3 and can claim a share of the conference crown with a win.
A UNC win clinches the Tar Heels’ first outright league title since 2017. Even with a loss, it would mark the program’s first share of an ACC regular season championship since it split the crown with Virginia in 2019. As dominant as Duke and North Carolina have been, the last time the rivals split the ACC title was 2001.
Since then, the rivals have met eight times with a potential shared or outright conference title at stake for the Tar Heels. North Carolina won all eight of those games. But keeping that streak alive at Cameron Indoor Stadium and emerging as the outright champion will be a tall task. The Blue Devils have won eight of nine since the first meeting and are a projected No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology.
UNC is projected as a No. 2 seed and can continue making its case to be a No. 1 seed if it’s able to pick up a road victory in college basketball’s top rivalry.
How to watch Duke vs. North Carolina live
Date: Saturday, March 9 | Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium — Durham, North Carolina
TV: ESPN | Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)
Duke vs. North Carolina prediction, picks
This game has all the makings of a classic as Duke and North Carolina tangle in a top-10 battle with an ACC title hanging in the balance. The Blue Devils will be motivated to even the series after losing at UNC last month, but this one will likely go down to the wire. Look for the Tar Heels to cover the spread and be in the hunt to win during the final minutes. Prediction: UNC +4.5
Who will win and cover in every college basketball game? Visit SportsLine to get picks from the model that simulates each game 10,000 times and is up more than $1,200 for $100 players on its top-rated spread picks the past six years.
Read the full article here