Villanova Wildcats vs. Duke Blue Devils: Spread
Free Pick: Villanova +2
Although there haven’t been many upsets in this NCAA tournament so far, I think Duke will be one of the big dogs to fall in the Big Dance.
It would be hard to argue that the Big East conference wasn’t the most competitive and talented conference in college basketball this year. Yeah, the ACC was pretty tough as usual, but the Big East has been full of NBA caliber players and solid teams.
One of the most impressive teams in the Big East that you really didn’t hear much about due to UConn and Pitt’s success this season has been the Villanova Wildcats.
The Wildcats might not be at the Huskies or Panthers level right now, but they are definitely not far off and if they were in a different could have arguably been a number seed in this tourney.
As of right now the Wildcats are two point underdogs to the Duke Blue Devils. Coach K’s teams are always the cream of the crop and very talented, but this time around the Wildcats are the better all around team and will pull off the upset over the Blue Devils.
Duke has been good this year, but they have not been great. It has pretty much been an up and down season for the Blue Devils with Duke playing like the number one team in the country one week and an unranked unachiever the next.
Villanova on the other hand has played against the best teams in the country all season long and been able to stay competitive. This will be a close game, but in the end the Wildcats will be the team to advance to the Elite Eight.
Here are some trends to keep in mind:
Duke has only won two games out of the 11 games against Big East opponents and are 2-10 in the last 12 games being the favorite in the NCAA tournament.
Villanova is 9-1 in the last ten games against teams with a winning record.
The Blue Devils might be two points favorites, but all signs are leaning toward Villanova advancing to the Elite Eight and sending Duke home in the Sweet 16.
Check out all of our NCAA picks.
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