Duke vs Tennessee Odds & Predictions – Blue Devils Favored in March Madness Second Round

• The #5 Duke Blue Devils are 3-point favorites over the #4 Tennessee Volunteers in their NCAA Tournament second-round game on Saturday, March 18
• Duke is 25-4 against the spread as a betting favorite this year, while Tennessee is 2-7 straight up all-time against the Blue Devils
• See the Duke vs Tennessee odds, picks, and predictions for Saturday’s March Madness game

The Tennessee Volunteers (23-10, 17-16 ATS) were part of SEC history in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, while the Duke Blue Devils (26-8, 15-19 ATS) were also making a little history of their own.

Tennessee was one of five SEC schools to post an opening-day victory, tying the one-day victory mark by a conference in tournament history. Meanwhile, Jon Scheyer was the first coach not named Mike Krzyzewski to coach Duke to a March Madness win since Bill Foster in 1980.

As these two top basketball schools meet in their East Region second-round game, it’s the Blue Devils that oddsmakers are setting as 3-point favorites. Duke is 6-1 ATS over the past seven games.

Duke vs Tennessee Odds

Editor’s note: as of Saturday morning, the point spread had moved to Duke -3.5 while the Blue Devils’ moneyline had shortened to -175. The total remained at 128.5. 

Both of these teams are set as +2000 10th betting choices in the March Madness odds. Duke is the +400 second-favorite to win the East Region in the Final Four odds. Tennessee is third in this betting market at +440.

Tip-off for this game is set for 2:40 pm ET on Saturday, March 18 at the Amway Center. The game is being carried by CBS.

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Odds as of March 16 at Caesars. Get the Caesars Sportsbook promo code or see the full list of March Madness betting apps.

Blue Devils vs Volunteers Betting Trends

Duke is 10-0 SU over the past 10 games. The Blue Devils are 5-1 ATS through the last six games.

Tennessee is 0-3 SU as a betting underdog this season. In neutral site games the Volunteers are 3-5 ATS.

Ziegler Injury Impacting Volunteers

While the Volunteers were beginning their March Madness quest, star player Zakai Ziegler was back home, undergoing ACL surgery.

The sophomore point guard was suffering his season-ending knee injury during a Feb. 28 game against Arkansas. He was averaging 10.7 points and 5.4 assists while playing 28.7 minutes per game this season. Ziegler was a second-team All-SEC selection.

Tennessee is 2-2 both SU and ATS since Ziegler’s injury.

Duke Makes Short Work Of Oral Roberts

There’s was a belief in basketball circles that Oral Roberts could prove to be a handful for Duke. In reality, the Blue Devils handily took care of the Golden Eagles.

Shooting 48% from the field, Duke led by as many as 30 points in a 74-51 dismantling of Oral Roberts. Duke held the Golden Eagles without a point over the first seven minutes of the game.

Barack Obama has Duke winning the natty‼️ pic.twitter.com/j0Sp5ehE2y

— Blue Devils (@BlueDevils) March 15, 2023

Jeremy Roach paced the offense for the Blue Devils with 23 points. Freshman center Kyle Filipowski, Duke’s leading scorer, left the game early due to illness.

Defense Saves Day for Tennessee

For the ninth time in 13 games, the Volunteers failed to cover the spread. Tennessee did defeat Louisiana-Lafayette 58-55, but the Ragin’ Cajuns covered as 11.5-point underdogs.

MOVING ON. 🟠

4 @Vol_Hoops survives the Ragin' Cajun comeback attempt and advances to the Second Round!#SECMBB x #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/45rX7emEzh

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) March 17, 2023

Tennessee turned the ball over 12 times in the first half alone. Were it not for the Volunteers defense, rated #2 in the nation by KenPom, this one could’ve been over early. However, they did squander a pair of 18-point leads, one being wiped out by a 13-0 Louisiana run.

Jahmai Mashack netted 11 points to top all Tennessee scorers.

Duke vs Tennessee Prediction

Tennessee was slumping even before Ziegler’s catastrophic injury. The Volunteers are 5-6 SU over the past 11 games.

This will be the 10th meeting between the two schools. Duke holds a 7-2 SU edge, but the Blue Devils and Volunteers haven’t squared off since 2011.

Duke can also play a little defense. The Blue Devils held an Oral Roberts team that was averaging 84.2 points per game to a field goal percentage of 26.5 in the first half of Thursday’s win.

As well, Duke is 25-4 ATS as a betting favorite this season.

Pick: Duke Blue Devils -3 (-110)

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