It’s time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Louisville-Duke prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Louisville-Duke.
What a story we have in the ACC Tournament final. Duke is trying to win this tournament without Cooper Flagg, who got injured in the quarterfinal win over Georgia Tech on Thursday, did not play against North Carolina on Friday, and is not expected to play here on Saturday. Flagg is — alongside Auburn’s Johni Broome — one of the two best players in college basketball this season. He will be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, assuming he leaves school for the pros. He is a dominant two-way player who is aggressive on defense in addition to being a highly skilled scorer. Not having him was and is a major loss for Duke, but the Blue Devils played through his absence and were still able to beat North Carolina on Friday in the semifinals. Duke led by more than 20 points. It dominated most of the game. It melted down late but survived. Beating North Carolina for a third time this season tastes extra sweet, knowing it was achieved without Duke’s best player.
Now the Blue Devils face the other inspiring team in the ACC this season, the overachieving Louisville Cardinals. Louisville finished second in the ACC in the regular season and is now in the ACC final. Louisville is clearly the second-best team in the conference by any measurement. Now we will see if the Cards can upset Duke and carry their ride one step further.
Here are the Louisville-Duke College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
ACC Tournament Odds: Louisville-Duke Odds
Louisville: +5.5 (-102)
Moneyline: +195
Duke: -5.5 (-120)
Moneyline: -240
Over: 144.5 (-110)
Under: 144.5 (-110)
How to Watch Louisville vs Duke
Time: 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why Louisville Will Cover The Spread/Win
Louisville is simply a big-time overachiever. Pat Kelsey is in the hunt for National Coach of the Year. He has pushed all the right buttons, and he has gotten his players to compete and fight so fully and consistently this season. Louisville lost key cog Kasean Pryor early in the season and clearly suffered for a few games after he got knocked out of the lineup. Pat Kelsey had a really good team with Pryor on the floor. Louisville notched some early-season wins against quality opposition. It would have been so easy for the air to go out of the balloon ater the Pryor injury, but Kelsey reorganized his team and got his shorthanded roster to work well together. Here are the Cardinals, in the ACC Tournament final for the first time since moving to the league from the Big East. Louisville went 18-2 in the ACC in the regular season. With two more wins at the ACC tourney, the Cardinals are 20-2 in 22 league games, an extraordinary feat. They are just really, really good and are not to be underestimated. With Duke lacking Cooper Flagg and key role player Maliq Brown, Louisville can definitely keep this one very, very close and cover the spread.
Why Duke Will Cover The Spread/Win
Louisville is a really good team, but Duke just blitzed North Carolina without Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown. Sure, the final margin was three points, but Duke was 10 to 15 points better for most of the game. Duke won’t implode the way it did against Carolina. Duke can bring this one home by 8 to 10 points and cover.
Final Louisville-Duke Prediction & Pick
Our lean is to Louisville, but Duke’s quality is just so good that we’re not fully confident. Wait for a second-half live play here.
Final Louisville-Duke Prediction & Pick: Louisville +5.5
The post Louisville vs Duke prediction, odds, pick for ACC Tournament Final appeared first on ClutchPoints.
