NCAAB: #8 Duke vs Wake Forest Odds, and Picks (Feb 24)

• Duke embarrassed Miami on Wednesday, dominating them 84-55 on the road.
• Wake Forest stunned Pittsburgh in a key bubble game, defeating them 91-58.
• These two teams last faced off on February 12, in a game that Duke won 77-69.

Selection Sunday is less than a month away! Let’s look at the upcoming matchup between the Duke Blue Devils and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Wake Forest is right on the bubble, and needs to win here.

How to Watch

• ESPN

Preview

Duke continues to surge on a weekly basis. They’ve now won 16 of their last 18 games, climbing to a 3-seed in the projected NCAA Tournament bracket. The Blue Devils haven’t reached one of the top few spots despite their 21-5 record, due to a sub-par ACC that will likely field just three or four teams in this year’s tournament. Even so, Duke can still climb as high as a 1-seed if they keep winning down the stretch.

Wake Forest got a huge win for their at-large chances against Pittsburgh this week. The 33-point blowout heavily impacted their metrics, resulting in a rise to #27 and #21 in the NET and KenPom, respectively. After sitting in the “First Four Out” category for the past few weeks, the Demon Deacons find themselves rising into the projected field. A win here over Duke would be another enormous victory for their chances.

Prediction

When these two teams last faced off back in January, they played a fairly close game. That means Wake Forest, who was on the road for the first matchup, should have a legitimate chance of taking the rematch at home. I do see them bringing it down to the wire, but ultimately coming up short against red-hot Duke.

NCAAB Picks:

• Duke 68, Wake Forest 66 )