The Duke Blue Devils are 4-0 straight up and against the spread over their last four games. The Blue Devils will attempt to become the second straight No. 2 seed to win the NCAA tournament after the Villanova Wildcats won it all as a 2-seed last season.
NCAA Tournament 2017 odds: Duke and UNC betting favorites for March Madness
The ACC rivals sit atop the betting board on the odds to win the 2017 NCAA Tournament ahead of fellow contenders Kansas, Villanova, and Gonzaga this week.
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Duke is going off at +650 on the odds to win the NCAA tournament at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. These odds put Duke in a tie with the North Carolina Tar Heels (+650 to win the championship) as the betting co-favorites, and ahead of other No. 1 seeds Kansas (+750), Villanova (+750), and Gonzaga (+850).
The Blue Devils entered the ACC Tournament in the midst of a 1-3 SU and 0-3-1 ATS slump, but came away with the ACC title with four straight wins that included three over solid NCAA Tournament contenders in Louisville (+1600), North Carolina, and Notre Dame (+4000). Should Duke advance into the Elite Eight, it could potentially face defending champion Villanova in the East Region.
Another 2-seed that saw its stock rise due to an excellent performance in its conference tournament was the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona (+900) went 4-0 SU and ATS in the Pac-12 Tournament and knocked off both UCLA (+1200) and Oregon (+2200) to claim the conference title.
A trip to the Final Four for Arizona could run through Gonzaga, who defeated Arizona 69-62 when the two teams met in December.
Four play-in games will round out the March Madness tournament bracket, with Mount St. Mary’s vs. New Orleans (-1.5) and Kansas State vs. Wake Forest (-1) scheduled for Tuesday, and North Carolina Central (-4) vs. UC Davis and USC (-3) vs. Providence on Wednesday.
The Round of 64 kicks off on Thursday with plenty of intriguing matchups.
One tough-to-call matchup pits No. 10 VCU against No. 7 Saint Mary’s, with Saint Mary’s going off as a 4.5-point favorite.
Virginia Commonwealth is best known for its stingy defense and its storybook run to the Final Four back in 2011. But Saint Mary’s will have the defensive edge in this one, ranking second in the nation in scoring defense allowing 56.5 points per game.
Saint Mary’s is 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS over its last seven games per the OddsShark College Basketball Database.
2017 NCAA Tournament Odds (see complete list at OddsShark)
North Carolina +650
Duke +650
Kansas +750
Villanova +750
Gonzaga +850
Arizona +900
Kentucky +1000
UCLA +1200
Louisville +1600
Oregon +2200
Notre Dame +4000
