Oral Roberts vs Duke March Madness Betting Guide: Tough Opener for ACC Tourney Champs
ACC Tournament Champion Duke Blue Devils On a Roll Heading Into Tourney

Can Oral Roberts Bust Some March Madness Once Again?
Replacing a legend is never easy and there have been some ups and downs for first-year Duke coach Jon Scheyer as he took over for Coach K at Duke.
The Blue Devils are getting hot at the perfect time with wins in nine straight games after taking down ACC regular-season co-champions Miami and Virginia in the final two games of the ACC tournament. The Oral Roberts vs Duke March Madness betting guide shows that the Blue Devils are favored even if they are on upset watch.
Oral Roberts takes a 17-game winning streak into the game after dominating the Summit League. Six of those games have been decided by single figures
Oral Roberts: More March Madness Magic
Two years ago Oral Roberts played their way into March Madness folklore by taking down No. 2 seed Ohio State and No. 7 seed Florida to bust plenty of brackets and advance to the Sweet 16. Those were the first wins in the NCAA tournament since 1954. Still, there will be plenty of people calling for an upset when looking at the Oral Roberts vs Duke March Madness betting guide.
How They Got Here
After running away with the regular season crown in the Summit League and having little trouble with North Dakota in the quarterfinals, the Golden Eagles found themselves down five points to St. Thomas in the semifinals.
Max Abmas had seven points during an 18-5 run that pretty much ended the upset bid for St. Thomas.
Abmas followed up his 23-point effort in the semifinals by finishing with 26 points and 11 assists in a championship game win over North Dakota State. The Golden Eagles never trailed in the game to punch their ticket back to the NCAA tournament.
Oral Roberts hasn’t lost since falling to North Dakota in early January. The Golden Eagles topped North Dakota twice since that loss.
Basketball fans likely remember Abmas’ name as he had 29 points against Ohio State and 26 more against Florida in the 2021 NCAA tournament. In 13 career postseason games, he has scored at least 20 points nine times and has a 21.4 average in conference and NCAA tournament play.
Connor Vanover, a 7-foot-5 Arkansas transfer averaged 15.3 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots during the conference tournament while Carlos Jurgens played a key role in the 2021 March Madness run.
When looking at the Oral Roberts vs Duke March Madness betting guide, keep in mind that Oral Roberts has covered against the college basketball betting lines in just one of its last nine games while six of the last seven games went under the total.
How Far Will They Go
Thanks to what happened two years ago and with the anti-Duke bias, Oral Roberts figures to be a popular upset pick. However, drawing a Duke team that just won the ACC tournament is a tough draw for a talented Golden Eagles team.
It will be interesting to see how Abmas and Vanover challenge the Duke defense in this one.
Expectations are on a low side for another run by the Golden Eagles as Oral Roberts is priced at +5000 to win the national title.
Duke: Better Late Than Never
As if losing the winningest coach in men’s Division I history wasn’t enough to contend with, five Duke players were selected in the 2022 NBA Draft led by No. 1 overall pick and NBA Rookie of the Year front-runner Paolo Banchero.
Duke did bring in the top recruiting class with Jeremy Roach leading the list of returning players.
Kyle Filipowski has been one of the top freshmen in the country and now some of his classmates are starting to figure things out.
How They Got Here
Duke began 2023 by losing to North Carolina State by 24 points, barely beating Boston College and falling to Clemson during a four-game stretch with the March Madness expectations starting to fade.
Something clicked after dropping back-to-back games to Miami and Virginia. Duke hasn’t lost since.
In the ACC tournament, the Blue Devils never trailed against Pittsburgh and closed out Miami and Virginia down the strength to win the ACC tournament.
Last year first-year head coach Hubert Davis led rival North Carolina to the national title game. Now it is Jon Scheyer looking to take the Blue Devils on a similar journey. Filipowski averaged 19.7 points, Roach contributed 15 points per game and Tyrese Proctor (10.3 points) was another key performers.
Duke has covered against the NCAA basketball odds in its last four games.
How Far Will They Go
If Duke can avoid being on the roster side of the No. 5 vs No. 12 upset, this could be an extended run for a Blue Devils team playing its best basketball right now.
There could be a matchup against a Tennessee team playing without injured guard Zakai Zeigler to get to the regionals. Purdue could be waiting in the Sweet 16. However, the Boilermakers do not look unbeatable.
Handicapping the Game
When looking at the March Madness lines, the 6-point line is a sign of respect for Oral Roberts and perhaps also has something to do with the results in the 2021 tournament.
Oral Roberts will be without forward Sir Isaac Herron as he has played in just one game this season as a result of a hand injury. Only four players have appeared in all 34 games for Duke this season. However, the Blue Devils are getting healthy at the perfect time.
The college basketball team stats indicate that Duke is far from an elite offensive team so perhaps that comes into play.
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