Public Favors WVU
The public is highly anticipating the 2010 Final Four meeting between West Virginia and Duke, but who are they wagering on for this game? Let’s take a look.
This national semifinal takes place on Saturday at 8:47PM ET from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Oddsmakers from online sports book BroburySports.com currently lists Duke as a 2-point favorite over West Virginia in the national semifinal while the over/under total is sitting at 131 points.
Over 17,000 wagers have been placed on this game with 54% of the public opting to go with the Mountaineers plus the 2 points. Public betting tends to go with the favorites but in this game, the wagers have been mostly going with the Mountaineers. Many may feel WVU’s win over Kentucky is a sign that they can defeat Duke, if not at least contend with it to the final seconds of the game.
The opening line for the game had the Blue Devils as 2.5-point favorites, but over the course of the week the line has been dropped down to two points because of the increasing numbers of bets siding with West Virginia.
Some trends to consider in this game is that West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is 9-7 against the spread against the ACC Conference in his career and Huggins is 1-5 ATS in the NCAA Tournament as an underdog. Huggins is also just 6-15 ATS against programs that have a winning percentage of over .724, like Duke does. As a team, WVU is 4-1 ATS in its last five games. The WVU program is also 16-2 ATS in the NCAA Tournament. The Mountaineers will likely be without point guard Darryl Bryant for Saturday’s game as he recovers from a broken right foot. Joe Mazzulla filled in for Bryant against Kentucky, and Mazzulla had a career-high 17 points in the win.d
For Duke, coach Mike Krzyzewski is 7-12-1 ATS as a favorite in the NCAA Tournament against opponents with a winning percentage over .750, like WVU is. Duke as a team is 4-1 against the spread in its last five games and the Blue Devils are 5-1 straight up in Final Four games with coach K.
To track public betting information here at theSpread.com, be sure to check out our College Basketball Public Betting page for all the latest information.
2010 Final Four Betting Odds, Point Spreads & Over/Under Total:
821 West Virginia Mountaineers +2 (+105 money line) Over 131
822 Duke Blue Devils -2 (-125 money line) Under 131
Posted: 4/2/10 1:44PM ET