Online Sports Betting – NCAA Berth Could Be On Line When Clemson Hosts Virginia Tech

People who love online sports betting love situations like they will see on Saturday, with a NCAA at-large berth quite possibly on the line when the Clemson Tigers play host to the Virginia Tech Hokies. This ACC game tips off at Noon ET at the Littlejohn Coliseum at Clemson, and in all likelihood the Tigers will be laying a couple of buckets in online sports betting.

Online Sports Betting
Virginia Tech Hokies (19-9 SU, 12-12 ATS) at Clemson Tigers (19-10 SU, 11-13-1 ATS)
Live at Littlejohn Coliseum
Clemson, SC
Saturday, March 5 — Noon ET

Online Sports Betting Line:  TBA
The Charles Jay Line (estimate):  Clemson -4

Here are the online sports betting trends that are related to this game:

• Virginia Tech has won six of its last nine games SU
• Virginia Tech has covered four of its last six games
• Virginia Tech has played six of its last seven road games UNDER the total
• Clemson has covered two of its last six games
• Clemson has won 14 of its last 20 games SU
• Clemson has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
• Clemson has won eleven of its last 12 home games SU
• Clemson has played four of its last five home games UNDER the total

Clemson likes to think it has a chance to get to the Big Dance, but to be honest, the Tigers are somewhat short on credentials. Online sports bettors know that wins against strong non-conference teams aren’t there, and with the exception of a win over Florida State, they’ve pretty much played to form in the ACC. So now comes a game they have to win, against Virginia Tech, another squad that could be in or out of the NCAA Tournament, depending on games like this one.

These teams are rather evenly matched, not only as you look at the odds in online sports betting but also from the RPI. The Hokies are 63rd, with a 2-6 SU record against teams in the RPI top 50, while Clemson is 64th, with a 2-5 mark against the same bunch. 

These are the head-to-head trends that may impact online sports betting on this game:

• Virginia Tech has covered six of the last nine meetings
• Clemson has won four of the last six meetings SU
• Six of the last seven meetings have gone OVER the total
• Virginia Tech has had the shooting edge in six of the last eight meetings
• Clemson has had the rebounding edge in six of the last eight meetings
• Clemson has made more three-pointers in eight of the last nine meetings

Virginia Tech is one of those teams that is seemingly always sweating it out on Selection Sunday, and I guess that’s Seth Greenberg’s destiny. A couple of things make us lean toward his squad in our online sports betting decision. One is that they have the effective inside-outside combination of Malcolm Delaney, a legitimate 20-point scorer, and Jeff Allen, who hits 51% of his shots and pulls down over ten rebounds a game.

Another factor is that I think we may have to excuse the Hokies’ very drab effort in losing to Boston College last time out. That loss, which came by 15 points, and in Blacksburg no less, came on the heels of an emotionally uplifting victory – as a 4.5 points online sports betting underdog – over Duke, which had carried a #1 ranking into the contest. In that game, where the Hokies were fully focused, Allen had 18 points and 15 rebounds, and Duke shot less than 40% from the field.

Here, I am inclined to grab the points again, as Virginia Tech isn’t likely to get caught sleeping. So it’s going to be the Hokies in our online sports betting play for Saturday, and maybe they’ll sew up that at-large bid.

JAY’S PLAY:  VIRGINIA TECH BY 2