Virginia Tech Hokies at Duke Blue Devils Betting Odds

Opening Line: Virginia Tech +13 / Duke +13 O/U 137

Time: 7:45 PM EST Sunday February 21, 2010 on FSN

Tonight in an ACC match up the Virginia Tech Hokies look to hand the 7th ranked Duke Blue Devils their first home loss of the season. Both teams will make the Big Dance, but now each is playing for a solid seed and the Blue Devils still have a chance to snag a #1 seed if they finish the season well and have a strong showing in the ACC Tournament. Tech can really improve their seed in the NCAA tournament, as well as get back in the top 25, with a win over Duke tonight.

This season Duke is 14-0 at home and 16-8-1 ATS and Virginia Tech is 5-3 on the road and 10-9 ATS.

Both teams have won 5 games in a row.

In their last games Tech beat Wake Forrest 87-83 on Tuesday night at Duke beat Miami 81-74 on Wednesday night.

The Blue Devils have won 4 straight games against the Hokies.

It will be far from easy for Virginia tech to win at Cameroon Indoor Stadium, as Duke is 14-0 there this season and have won their ACC games there by an average of 6 points. Tech is 1-16 at Duke all time.

The Hokies will have to win this game with their stellar backcourt of ACC leading scorer Malcolm Delaney (20.2 ppg) and Dorenzo Hudson (14 ppg). The Hokies do have a solid frontcourt with the F duo of Jeff Allen (11.4 ppg) and J.T. Thompson (7 ppg), but the guards have to shoulder most of the scoring load tonight.

Duke also has a solid backcourt with ACC 2nd leading scorer Jon Scheyer (19.1 ppg) and Nolan Smith (17.7 ppg).

The match up between forwards Kyle Singler (16.6 ppg 7.2 rpg) of Duke and Tech's Jeff Allen (7.2 rpg) is important, as each not only has to score to open up the perimeter, but also rebound well.

The Tech offense will be facing a Duke defense that has been on fire during their 5-game winning streak holding opponents to an average of 62.8 points and 14.4 turnovers.

Tech has to play solid D on a Duke team that is averaging just over 80 ppg.

Virginia Tech is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games, 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS loss, and has an Under record of 4-1 in their last 5 games.

Duke is 13-3 ATS in their last 16 home games, 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as a home favorite of 13 points or more, and has an Over/Under record of 12-13 this season.

In the last 5 meetings between these 2 teams the Hokies are 1-4 ATS.

Our Selection : The Blue Devils haven't lost a game at home all season and we're not expecting then to lose this either. However, we're not going to lay 12.5 points against a Hokies team that has won their last 5 and held opponents to 36% from the floor during that stretch. Take Virginia Tech +12.5