Expert Betting Picks – #1 Duke Suspect to Cover vs. #24 Temple

The #1 Duke Blue Devils are going to be a suspect team to cover the spread versus the #24 Temple Owls on Wednesday, February 23rd. At least, that’s my expert NCAAB betting picks opinion.

Duke has won 6 games in row since their horrible loss to the St. John’s Red Storm, 78 to 93, on January 30th. The Blue Devils are a much more capable team than that and they’ve showed it in their last 6 by punishing teams.

[Off topic: by the way, do you want to get a 55% bonus on your first deposit here at BetOnline? If so JOIN NOW.]

The Dookies have also gone 5 and 1 against the spread in those 6 games, but I still feel that they’re going to have a tough time against a better than it looks on paper Temple Owls squad.

#24 Temple Owls (21-5) at #1 Duke Blue Devils (25-2)

Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina

When: Feb. 23rd, 2010 at 7:00 pm EST

TV: ESPN2

Likely NCAAB Betting Lines

Temple Owls +11 ½ -110 O 150 ½ -110

Duke Blue Devils -11 ½ -110 U 150 ½ -110

Check out some Betting trends for this game.

• The Temple Owls are 4 and 0 ATS in their last 4 versus a team from the ACC.

• The Temple Owls are 7 and 3 ATS in their last 10 games on the road.

• The Duke Blue Devils are 5 and 1 ATS in their last 6 games overall.

• The Duke Blue Devils are 4 and 1 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up victory.

I’m a huge Dookie fan. I grew up watching Coach K’s teams in the mid-1980’s and early 1990’s but there’s no way that I can put Duke onto my expert betting picks list against the spread versus the Temple Owls on Wednesday night. Duke just doesn’t do very well against the spread at home.

Sure, they’re 5 and 1 ATS in their last 6 games, but they’re only 7 and 7 ATS at home overall this season. They failed to cover as -10 ½ point favorites versus North Carolina in the furious 79 to 73 victory (Duke was down by 16 points at halftime). The Blue Devils did, however, cover a -18 ½ point spread versus Georgia Tech in their last game, but Temple is a much, much better team than Georgia Tech.

The numbers on Temple say that the Owls have a shot against Duke on February 23rd. Temple has a very good defense. They allow only 61 points per game off of a little over 40% shooting.

The Owls haven’t lost a game since January 22nd when the better than anyone believed they would be Xavier Musketeers beat Temple 88 to 77.

Temple has been awesome since that contest going 8 and 0 versus the college hoops moneyline. The Owls have only gone 4 and 4 ATS in their last 8 games, but they’ve been favored in all 8 games and have been the favorite in 9 out of their last 10 games. Now that Temple is the dog, they’re the team that gets onto my expert betting picks list for Wednesday, not the Dookies.

The truth is that Duke is one of the teams I believe will fight for a National Championship next month. I feel that Duke is a solid, solid choice to make the Final Four and should be considered one of the better teams in the nation, but they often times, more than not, have to cover horrendously large spreads, like when Temple plays an Atlantic 10 opponent, meaning that the Dookies are a good play against to cover ATS on February 23rd.

Duke should beat Temple straight up on Wednesday. I don’t believe they’ll cover what almost assuredly will be a double-digit wagering spread, however.

NCAA Odds Betting Pick: Duke to cover ATS

Check out more free expert betting picks, click here!