We’re back for the final edition of the ACC: State of the Union.
The next piece of content regarding the conference will be the ACC Tournament preview.
A lot has happened since the last report, and plenty is still to be decided with about two weeks left in the regular season.
In this ACC betting report, I’ll dive into each team in the conference who'll head to the NCAA tournament or is in on the bubble.
Let’s start off with the frontrunner to win the league, the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Odds are via DraftKings
North Carolina Tar Heels
-700 to Win ACC | +1800 to Win National Title
With the tiebreaker and a one game lead on Duke with only four ACC matchups to play, the Tar Heels are the overwhelming favorite to take home the conference's regular season title and grab the No. 1 seed in the league tournament.
Carolina has been dominant in league play all year, sitting at 13-3 and holding victories over every other team in the top half of the conference.
RJ Davis and Armando Bacot are as good of an inside/onside duo as any in America, and each is capable of having a big night any time out.
Additionally, role players like Cormac Ryan, Harrison Ingram and Elliot Cadeau continue to play their part very well and make big plays when asked to.
18/1 to win the Natty feels like a little bit too long of odds given the level of experience Hubert Davis’ team will take into March.
Did you know legal betting is coming to the Tar Heel State? North Carolina sports betting is coming online on March 11, so you’ll be able to wager legally at major sportsbooks in NC.
Duke Blue Devils
+350 to Win ACC | +2800 to Win National Title
Duke may have lost a hard fought game on Saturday at Wake Forest, but this team is starting to play its best basketball of the season at the right time.
The Blue Devils will likely be the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament, but they have the opportunity over the next couple of weeks to improve their NCAA tournament seeding.
Duke closes with home games against Virginia and North Carolina — as well as a road tilt at NC State — so there are multiple chances for more Quad 1 wins.
Freshman phenom Jared McCain has been playing at an elite level in February, and Jeremy Roach is a steady veteran guard who makes big shots for Jon Scheyer’s group.
It'll be interesting to monitor Kyle Filipowski’s health after the court storming incident at Wake. If the big man is all good, the Devils could be worth a look to make the Final Four at +550.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
+30000 to Win ACC | +12000 to Win National Title
I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but after the home win over Duke, the Demon Deacons are in great position to return to March Madness.
Wake’s final four games are at Notre Dame and Virginia Tech, followed by home contests against Georgia Tech and Clemson.
A 3-1 or 4-0 finish would absolutely lock things up, but given ND or GT would be considered a “bad loss," ending 2-2 could leave Wake with a little work to do in the conference tournament.
I don’t see much value on any futures with Wake, but this is a great story and Steve Forbes’ team has the talent to win a game or two in the tournament should it get there.
Virginia Cavaliers
+35000 to Win ACC | +12000 to Win National Title
Offensive shortcomings continue to plague Virginia, as the Hoos have failed to reach 50 points in their last three outings.
Virginia is now in a bit of a precarious spot, sitting at 11-6 in the league with three games left.
A win at Duke would all but lock up a bid for UVA, but if the Cavaliers can’t get it done in Cameron, they'll likely need to beat both Boston College and Georgia Tech to feel decent about their positioning entering the conference tournament.
It's hard to feel good about any sort of postseason run for a team that just has an extremely limited supply of shotmakers and skilled penetrators with the ball in their hands.
I don’t advise any sort of future on Virginia, but I do expect UVA to end up in the Big dance due to its spot in the top four in the ACC and its non-conference wins over Florida and Texas A&M.
Clemson Tigers
+10000 to Win National Title
This is the team in the ACC that's flying under the radar a bit that I'm very bullish on.
Last week, I placed a wager on Clemson to make the Final Four at +2000, and you can still find sportsbooks with a number right around there.
The Tigers dropped a couple of conference games they shouldn’t have back in January, but I love the makeup of this roster from top to bottom.
Play away from home is typically somewhat telling of what a team can do on a neutral floor come tournament time.
Clemson is 5-3 in the ACC on the road, and also won at Alabama and over TCU and Boise State on neutral floors back in November and January.
This is a balanced team that doesn’t really have a weakness. I love Clemson Final Four futures and will also look at the Tigers' odds to win the ACC Tournament.
Pittsburgh Panthers
+25000 to Win National Title
Pitt has been one of the hottest teams in the league over the last three weeks and has made a surge towards the bubble.
Jeff Capel’s team will still need to finish strong to get a bid, and the first chance to do that is Tuesday night when it heads to Clemson.
Following that is a road game at Boston College and then two home games against Florida State and NC State.
If the Panthers can finish 3-1 or 4-0, they’ll have a real chance entering conference tournament time.
Pittsburgh has plenty of offensive firepower, which is kind of what you need to make an extended run over a four day span in a league tournament.
Depending on the number, the Panthers could be worth a look at 10/1 or better to win the ACC Tournament.
NC State Wolfpack
+50000 to Win National Title
The Wolfpack would need everything to break right to get back in the at-large picture, but at 9-7 in the league, we’ll keep them around for now.
NC State just doesn’t have many good wins on its resume, but to its credit, there aren’t any bad losses either.
The good news for the Pack is they still have dates with Duke and North Carolina in their final four regular season games.
Somehow getting both of those would immediately thrust NC State back into the hunt, but that's a lot easier said than done.
There's no futures value on NC State as of this moment.
