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Duke Blue Devils' backers should feel good about their team heading into Wednesday's game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
With a dominating 85-44 display against Maryland on Saturday, Duke took the cash as 15-point favorites and claimed the #1 spot in the AP Top 25 rankings.
It was just the second cover for Duke in their previous six games but the 41-point victory restored confidence for bettors as the Blue Devils had been facing big spreads and failing before Saturday's big blowout.
Now, Duke prepares to defend their new ranking against last week's #1, Wake Forest, in a nationally televised game that is drawing lots of attention. You can catch the game on ESPN at 7 pm but make sure you check the Sportsbook.com Live Odds page and place your bet first.
Duke has dominated the series in recent years, but did drop the cash to Wake Forest last year when they lost 86-73 as 8 ½-point favorites in Winston-Salem. That loss ended the Blue Devils' streak of six consecutive victories against the spread (ATS) versus their ACC rival.
Overall, Duke has covered seven of the last 10 games in what is the ACC's oldest and most frequently played series. These teams have played 231 times with the Blue Devils winning 155 of those games.
Both teams will score plenty of points on Wednesday and that should give bettors a good reason to look at the Over as it has hit in 7 of the last 10 meetings.
The Blue Devils' offense is averaging 80.3 points per game, 17th in the league, while their defense is giving up just 59.5 points per game. Duke's defense has been driving the Under and it has hit in seven of their last eight games but they haven't faced an offense as potent as Wake's in that stretch.
Led by junior guard Jeff Teague's 21.5 points per game, the Demon Deacons score an average of 84.2 points per game as the nation's sixth-ranked offense. Wake is also among the league leaders in shooting percentage, hitting 50.5% of their field goal attempts.
If the two offenses can match their season average scoring totals, then the Over should be an interesting wager.
Spread bettors will likely face an interesting line with Wake Forest playing at home, coming off their first loss and dropping down the polls to #6. For those that like trends, the home team is 13-3 ATS in the last 16 meetings but before last year's win by the Demon Deacons, Duke had covered their previous two trips to Winston-Salem.
Place your bets for this and the other televised Top 25 showdown as #3 Pittsburgh plays at #21 Villanova. Remember that every week you can win cash prizes with the Sportsbook.com - Beat the House promotion. Collect points for every winning wager and you'll get paid for collecting the most points.
Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
