Duke At Ohio State Free Picks & Predictions For ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Jordan Horrobin | 3 mins

The ACC/Big Ten Challenge is upon us, and that means a fresh matchup of big-name matchups featuring arguably the two deepest conferences in college basketball.
Among the most notable games in this week’s slate is No. 1 Duke facing Ohio State on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET. The Buckeyes (4-2) are pretty slim 2.5-point underdogs on betting apps considering they’re facing the unbeaten, top team in the nation.
The current college basketball odds are in our table below, and we’ve got college basketball picks for this terrific matchup, too.
Odds are current as of publication. betting sites may indicate odds changes closer to kickoff.
5 Keys to Ohio State vs Duke
Last chance in Columbus for Coach K: By now you probably know that legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is retiring after this year. One thing he probably wouldn’t mind doing first? Beating Ohio State in Columbus. In his only previous attempt, back in 2011, the Blue Devils lost 85-63 as 7.5-point underdogs.
Cardiac Bucks: If you’ve watched much Ohio State basketball this season, hopefully you’ve had a stress ball handy. Half of the Buckeyes’ six games have been decided on the game’s final possession: a one-point win over Akron on opening night, a three-point win over Seton Hall and a buzzing-beating loss against Florida.
Lights, camera … Liddell: As junior forward E.J. Liddell has gone, so has the Buckeyes offense. Liddell is averaging 22.5 points, which is great, although no one else on his team is averaging double digits. He’s also posting a staggering 3.8 blocks per game.
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Toppling the big dogs: The bulk of Duke’s seven wins have come against far weaker foes, but on Friday it took down then-No. 1 Gonzaga in 84-81 upset fashion. The Blue Devils were outrebounded and outshot from 3-pt. range, but they were plus-nine in the turnover battle, handing the Bulldogs their first regular season loss since Feb. 22, 2020.
On the road again: One reason the spread is so close for this game is that Duke will be forced into a true road environment for the first time all season. So far, the Blue Devils have played five home games in Durham, N.C., as well as neutral site games in New York City and Las Vegas.
Duke at Ohio State Best Bet
In fairness to Duke, the “neutral site” game in Las Vegas was awfully close to a road environment, given that it was three time zones away from home and geographically much closer for Gonzaga. And in that situation, Duke handled itself en route to a statement win over last year’s NCAA tournament runner-up.
Ohio State has had too many shaky games so far, and their offense has been one-dimensional. If you’re Duke, focus on stopping Liddell, blocking out the crowd and retaining your No. 1 ranking We like the Blue Devils to cover the 2.5-point spread as seen at top sportsbooks in the US.
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