The ACC basketball betting season has started, and there are so many intriguing match-ups that fans of the sport will be keen to wager on. The conference is once again a tough nut to crack, with a mixture of veteran and up-and-coming teams that will bring plenty of excitement to the season.
Here are the betting lines for the conference as a whole, as well as some of the more notable match-ups that are ripe for speculation:
Florida State Seminoles (16-8) vs North Carolina Tar Heels (15-9)
One of the biggest match-ups of the year pits the defending champion Seminoles against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Both teams are coming off hard-fought conference defeats, with Florida State failing to defend their ACC title and the Tar Heels enduring a heartbreaking NCAA Tournament loss at the hands of LSU. The winner of this match will try and keep their place at the top of the conference standings, and will be buoyed by an opportunity to avenge their earlier defeats.
The Tar Heels are the favorites in this match, and the betting line sets them at -2.5, which can be found on a number of sportsbooks. Florida State are a decent side at home, but their form on the road has been poor, so this won’t be an easy stroll to victory for the Tar Heels. The over/under on the game is set at 191.5 points, so there’s plenty of scope for this game to go either way.
Clemson Tigers (18-8) vs Virginia Cavaliers (13-13)
Last year’s ACC Champion Clemson Tigers will be hoping to maintain their edge over the rest of the conference, as they look to defend their title. The defending champs have a new-look squad this year, and have added a whole host of exciting new faces to their roster. One of the biggest movers up in the conference this year was Virginia, who surprised many by making the NCAA Tournament last season. This will be a vital game for both teams, as it could determine which of them are genuine title contenders or simply happy to be there. At the moment, the betting lines have Clemson as the favorite, with the Tigers getting a 2.5 spread against the Cavaliers. If Clemson can continue their incredible postseason run this season, they will really be able to put that 18-8 record to the test.
There are so many storylines to follow in this year’s ACC basketball season. Aside from the aforementioned title bout, there’s the fact that both Virginia and Miami have new coaches, and Pittsburgh and North Carolina are looking to rebuild after last season’s heartbreak. With the postseason rapidly approaching, this is certainly going to be an exciting season to follow.