NCAA Tournament: #5 Duke vs. #12 Oral Roberts Betting Preview
We tip things off in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, and we’ve got some great matchups as part of the 16-game slate. We’ll be honing in on a trendy upset spot between the Duke Blue Devils and Oral Roberts Golden Eagles amid what should be an eventful Thursday.
We look at the game and how you can find value in the matchup between the Blue Devils and Golden Eagles.
#5 Duke vs. #12 Oral Roberts Game Information
- Location: Amway Center – Orlando, FL
- Time: 7:10 p.m. ET | TV: CBS
What a draw for a Round of 64 matchup that could see the highest viewership among Thursday’s slate. The Blue Devils and Golden Eagles will face off right in the heart of the 16-game schedule in a contest that provides one of the nation’s most famous blue bloods and a former Cinderella with a superstar guard in Max Abmas.
#5 Duke vs. #12 Oral Roberts Odds on FanDuel
- Spread: Duke -6.5 (-106) | Oral Roberts +6.5 (-114)
- Moneyline: Duke -260 | Oral Roberts +210
- Total: OVER 145.5 (-115) | UNDER 145.5 (-105)
This has been billed as one of the more popular of the 12-over-5 upsets, and we tend to agree. Although Duke enters on a nine-game winning streak, none of those victories have come over a top 30 KenPom team. Oral Roberts is not that, but their playstyle could give the Blue Devils some fits with a young team and a first-year head coach.
The Golden Eagles almost always have five shooters on the court, including 7’5” center Connor Vanover, who has hit 43 triples this season. If Dereck Lively and Kyle Filipowski are tasked with chasing shooters around the court for 40 minutes, things could get ugly on the defensive end for Duke.
#5 Duke vs. #12 Oral Roberts Pick
- Oral Roberts +6.5 (-114)
Sometimes volatility and high-ceiling outcomes are what you want from a lower-seeded team when looking to pick an upset. That’s precisely what Oral Roberts provides with a unit that heavily relies on three-pointers and knocks down shots at the seventh-highest clip in the nation.
If the Golden Eagles come out hot, they could put Duke in trouble here. Back them to cover the spread in this one.
