Duke Blue Devils vs. California Golden Bears Betting Odds

Opening Line: Duke -6.5 / California +6.5 O/U 143

Time: 5:15 PM EST Sunday March 21, 2010 on CBS

In a 2nd round match up in the South Region the 8th seed California Golden Bears face the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils. Duke may have some problems against Cal, as the Golden Bears are a well-balanced team that is one of the best 3-pt shooting teams in the NCAA tournament.

This season Cal is 20-13 ATS and Duke is 19-13-2 ATS.

In their opening round games Duke had no problem beating Arkansas Pine Bluff 73-44 while Cal had, surprisingly, no problem beating Louisville 77-62.

The Golden Bears have 2 forwards and 2 guards that are averaging in double figures led by G Jerome Randle (18.8 ppg). Duke needs to play solid D on Randle, as he can shoot the rock from deep and he dropped 21 points on Louisville in Cal's 1st round game.

Duke also has 2 guards averaging in double figures and solid F Kyle Singler down low. Singler was solid in Duke's opening round win going for 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Duke has a solid defense only allowing 61.2 ppg and Cal needs to hold onto the rock in this game better than they did in their 1st round game where they committed 14 turnovers.

Cal can really shoot lights out from deep and in their won over Louisville they hot on 8 of 15 of their long bombs for a solid 3-pt FG% of 53.3%. If Cal can shoot well from deep they have a good chance to pull off the upset in this game.

Jamal Boykin (11.9 ppg 6.6 rpg) is the main guy on the glass for the Golden Bears and he will have to body up on Singler (7 rpg) and not let the Duke F dominate the glass.

Cal does not have a lot of size inside and they cannot allow 6'10" F Miles Plumlee (5.4 ppg 5 rpg) to step up and play a vital role in this game.

Duke has a very deep bench, but unless Cal can play solid defense against the big 3 of the Blue Devils in Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer they will not advance to the Sweet 16.

Betting Trends

California is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 non-conference games, and has an Over record of 5-1 in their last 6 neutral site games as an underdog.

Duke is 0-4-2 ATS in their last 6 games against teams with a winning percentage above 60%, 0-6 ATS in their last 6 NCAA Tournament games as a favorite of 0.5-6.5, and has an Under record of 4-1 in their last 5 games as a favorite.