On Saturday, the SEC and ACC wrap up their seasons with two huge rematches. No. 25 Kentucky welcomes No. 1 Florida in Lexington, eager to even their regular season series, while the No. 14 Tar Heels head to Durham hoping to sweep their series with the No. 4 Blue Devils. Dig into these two classic college basketball match ups with our betting previews below.
[sc:BettingArticlesShortcoder ]Kentucky Wildcats vs. Florida Gators (March 8th, 12:00 PM EST)
Betting on the Kentucky Wildcats
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]The Wildcats come into this one looking to prove they can hang with a Gators team that they’ve lost to once this season and could easily meet again in the SEC conference tournament. Coach Calipari’s team won their last game 55-48 win, but did not cover the 12.5 point spread against a Alabama team that stayed close all game. The bench played a pivotal role in the win, with the Wildcat reserves contributing 27 points. Kentucky is now 7-3 SU in its last 10 games.
The Wildcats are lagging offensively lately, having failed to score more than 67 points in any of their last three games. They will need to be closer to their average of 76.7 PPG if they hope to by the Gators. The Gators shut down the Wildcats in their first meeting this season, a 69-59 Florida win in mid-February.
Betting on the Florida Gators
The Gators are headed to Saturday’s game riding a 22-game winning streak. Their latest 72-46 victory against South Carolina turned into a virtual one-man show as guard Michael Frazier II knocked down a school-record 11 three-pointers and finished with a career-high 37 points.
But as always with No. 1 Florida, the offense was just the cherry on top of the nation’s fifth-best defense. The Gators’ defense limited the Gamecocks to 32% shooting from the field, such that Frazier II almost single-handedly outscored South Carolina‘s team total. The Gators are 2-0 ATS in their last two games.
Prediction
The Wildcats aren’t playing their best ball of the season, having lost twice to teams with RPIs of 47 or higher in their last three outings. The Gators, in the meantime, have been eating opponents alive, ranked or not. Take Florida both straight up and on the spread.
North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Duke Blue Devils (March 8th, 9:00 PM EST)
Betting on the North Carolina Tar Heels
A huge Saturday in college basketball continues at 9:00PM ET with an all-time classic: UNC vs Duke. The bad start to their conference play seems to be a very distant memory for the Tar Heels, who have won twelve straight after escaping with a 63-61 win against Notre Dame on Monday.
Despite losing three of their last four games at Duke, the Tar Heels have consistently covered the spread when playingin Duke. They are 7-1 ATS on the road against the Blue Devils.
Betting on the Duke Blue Devils
While presumably looking ahead to this game, the Blue Devils overlooked Wake Forest this week, who handed them a frustrating 82-72 result on Wednesday. Duke will try to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time this season on Saturday night.
After losing to the Tar Heels two weeks ago, Duke bounced back big by defeating the then-No. 1 Syracuse Orange. Duke’s scoring has lagged as they’ve struggled to get near their season average of 79.3 PPG of late, failing to reach 70 in the last four weeks of action. The Blue Devils are 5-1 UNDER in their last six games.
Prediction
Duke shot unusually poorly from behind the arc (5-22) in their first meeting with North Carolina, and it cost them. Being at home may allow Duke’s shooters to relax and hit some of the shots they will need to beat UNC, but North Carolina is playing too well not to keep it close and cover the spread.
The best days of the college basketball season are here: bet on March Madness today at Top Bet, America’s best online sportsbook.
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