Duke Blue Devils @ North Carolina Tar Heels Point Spread Pick

March 13, 2011 by luckylester

Duke Blue Devils @ North Carolina Tar Heels Point Spread Pick: I couldn’t have asked for more from the tournament gods! When I look at any NCAA season, I’m looking for the Blue Devils and Tar Heels to go head-to-head 4 times if at all possible. I want my favorite team of all time playing my least favorite team of all time twice during the regular season, once in the ACC Tournament, and it would be perfect if they got to go at it one more time in the Big Dance. So far, so good, as this will be the third meeting between the Heels and the Devils, and while Duke spent most of the season on top, the Tar Heels’ late season push gave NC the regular season ACC Title, and a win here would definitely put them ahead of Duke in the eyes of the tournament selection committee.

When I originally started looking at this game, I wanted to go with Duke because it will be the first time the Tar Heels are favored against their rival, and NC hasn’t played well in any of the first halves of any tournament game they’ve played. Each game has been a comeback, and if they start off like that against the Blue Devils, they’re going to get beat up.

But it’s impossible for me to look at the very tough match-up situation Duke is against when they play the Tar Heels. Singler has a tough time with Carolina’s length (and so do the rest of the Blue Devils, honestly), both Plumlee’s have a very tough time on the offensive end, and Carolina definitely out-athletes Duke in just about every situation. Harrison Barnes took a while to pick up the college game, but he’s been as good as advertised coming into the season, and his 40 point effort against Clemson shows that. His jumper is smooth, he can get it off any time he wants, and right now it’s going in.

Kyle Singler finally had a big game and has come out of his horrid shooting slump, but will that be enough? I just don’t think Duke is as good as Carolina, not without Kyrie Irving. The Devils will be relying on the three, and I think that means they’ll be dying by the three.