The Louisville Cardinals are 0-5 straight up and 3-2 against the spread in their last five road games against the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Cardinals will try to solve the Tar Heels on the road Wednesday night.
Louisville vs. North Carolina odds 2017: Cardinals look to buck trends as road underdog
Two of the nation’s top teams clash when the Louisville Cardinals visit the North Carolina Tar Heels as road underdogs at the sportsbooks on Wednesday night.
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Louisville is a six-point road underdog in Chapel Hill at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. When these two teams met in Louisville last season, the Cardinals came out on top in a 71-65 win as one-point home favorites.
Fueled by a stingy defense that has allowed only 64.1 points per game this season, Louisville has solidified itself as a legitimate contender with a 22-5 SU and 17-8 ATS record thus far.
Since Jan. 7, the Cardinals are 10-2 SU and 8-4 ATS in a stretch that includes solid wins at home over Duke, Clemson, and Miami. Louisville will try to pick up the statement road win that has eluded the team in recent seasons against a tough Tar Heels squad.
The Cardinals are 0-11 SU in their last 11 games as a road underdog and 1-7 ATS in their last eight games over that run, per the OddsShark College Basketball Database.
Betting Line: North Carolina -6 Points
Trend: The Cardinals are 1-7 ATS in their last eight games as road underdogs.
Trend: The OVER is 9-2 in the Cardinals’ last 11 games.
North Carolina failed to pass a tough road test of its own in an 86-78 road loss to Duke on Feb. 9, but the team has bounced back strongly from that performance.
The Tar Heels blew out North Carolina State, 97-73, on the road in their next game, and followed that up with an impressive 65-41 win over the Virginia Cavaliers as 6.5-point favorites at home. Justin Jackson’s 18.6 points per game lead the way for a Tar Heels squad that ranks sixth in the country on offense with 86.9 points per game.
The OVER is 9-2 in Louisville’s last 11 games and 5-0 in its last five games for totals bettors.
The Tar Heels and Cardinals each enter this matchup ranked in the top eight of both the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll. Depending on how the conference tournaments play out in March, the winner of this game could wind up with a strong argument for a one-seed when the NCAA Tournament rolls around.
Louisville Cardinals at North Carolina Tar Heels
When: Wednesday, Feb. 22, 9 p.m. ET
Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.
