Posted at 1:00 PM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle +167 BET365  +160 Sportsinteraction  +160  888Sport  +160

Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC

Duke +167 over North Carolina

Streaming: ESPN

6:30 PM EST. The Tar Heels of North Carolina (UNC) have been one of the hottest teams in the country, winning nine of their last 10 games and tearing through the ACC, where they sit atop the table at 9-1. UNC is 17-4 overall and is polling as the #3 team in all of Division I. We are not here to rain on their parade, but we are here to point out that with their recent run of success, their pedigree, and the high-profile nature of this game tonight, the Tar Heels’ stock is on its way to the moon.

Not only are the Tar Heels winning at a high clip, but they are waffling their ACC brethren with double-digit wins over Wake Forest (85-64), Boston College (76-66), Louisville (86-70), Syracuse (103-67), N.C. State (67-54), Clemson (65-55), and Pitt (70-57). However, that run of dominant wins is simply fodder for the talking heads to pump up a blue blood program whose ego does not need inflating. But with that attention comes the potential to profit from a situation where the Tar Heels are spotting inflated points to their biggest rivals.

Rare is the night that Duke is the “B-side” in any game they play in, but that is the case in this high-profile prime-time affair on ESPN. The Blue Devils are 16-4 and sit second behind UNC in the ACC at 7-2. However, they are being downgraded here after a tough month plagued by injuries. Duke was forced to use several different starting lineups in recent outings, and while they have won nine of 10, the Blue Devils are on a rough run Against the Spread (ATS), cashing just two tickets over their last seven. Duke was favored by -14½ at Notre Dame (L), -5 at Pitt, -17½ (W) versus Georgia Tech (L), -12½ at home to Pitt (L), -14½ at Louisville (L), -7½ at home to Clemson (L), and -4 at Virginia Tech (W). Now the Blue Devils are a +4½-point underdog today, again, which is rare. The points being offered up are tempting, but we’re going to shelve them and go for the kill. Dukies outright is the call.

Sherwood

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