Tar Heels, Blue Raiders set for ACC showdown

Mar 7, 2008 / By Rob Gerein

In what many College Basketball observers are calling the game of the season, the No. 1-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels visit arch-rival No. 6 Duke Blue Devils on Saturday with the ACC Conference regular-season title on the line.

The Blue Devils are 1½-point favorites at Sportsbetting.com.

The two have a long, rich history, but it’s been along time since there has been as much hype leading up to one of their battles than there is for this regular-season finale for both teams.

The winner not only receives the top seed for next week's ACC tournament in Charlotte, but could also capture the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament's East region.

That represents a potentially huge bonus: With Charlotte being the regional site, and  the opening-weekend pod is in Raleigh, whichever teams lands the top seed won't have to leave the state prior to the Final Four.

This season, North Carolina is 28-2 SU, 19-8 ATS and 13-2 in the ACC. Duke is 26-3 SU, 15-11-2 ATS and also 13-2 in ACC play.

The Blue Devils are 6-4 SU over the past 10 meetings, but have covered just four times over that span. The teams last met Feb. 6, when Duke won 89-78 as 4½-point road underdogs. The score went over the total of 163½.

On Tuesday, the Tar Heels beat Florida State 90-77, failing to cover the 16½-point home spread. The score went over the total of 156½.

The Blue Devils beat Virginia 86-70 on Wednesday, easily covering the 6½-point home spread. The score went under the total of 156.    

The game can be seen at 9 pm ET on ESPN.

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