The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (13-5, 5-2 ACC) pay a visit to the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels (15-3, 7-0) Monday. Tip-off from the Dean E. Smith Center is set for 7 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the Wake Forest vs. North Carolina odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and best bets.
Wake Forest routed the Louisville Cardinals 90-65 Saturday while covering as a 16-point home favorite. The Demon Deacons have won 3 of their last 5 but have allowed opponents to eclipse the 80-point mark in 3 of those games, including in each of their last 2 losses. Wake Forest has failed to string together back-to-back ATS wins since the turn of the calendar year (last 5 games).
North Carolina enters on an 8-game win streak. The Tar Heels’ last victory came in a 76-66 outing at Boston College Saturday. UNC covered as an 8-point favorite in the win and is 7-1 against the spread (ATS) during the win streak.
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Wake Forest at North Carolina odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Sunday at 6:51 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Wake Forest +285 (bet $100 to win $285) | North Carolina -375 (bet $375 to win $100)
- Against the spread: Wake Forest +8.5 (-114) | North Carolina -8.5 (-106)
- Over/Under (O/U): 154.5 (O: -108 | U: -112)
Wake Forest at North Carolina picks and predictions
Prediction
North Carolina 79, Wake Forest 77
Moneyline
PASS.
The Tar Heels (-375) should pick up the win and remain undefeated at home, where they are 8-0 this season, but the -375 price is not worth the risk. Bet on the spread and/or total instead.
Against the spread
LEAN WAKE FOREST +8.5 (-114).
Wake Forest has covered the spread in 4 consecutive meetings vs. UNC and is 8-2 ATS in the last 10 meetings. The Demon Deacons are also 6-3-1 ATS in their last 10 overall, coming off the 16-point cover vs. Louisville.
Wake Forest is a sneaky good team and its numbers in many major statistics are very similar to that of UNC, so expect this to be a very good game.
This is only a LEAN because UNC is the better team and has been very good ATS recently, going 7-1 ATS in the last 8 contests.
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Over/Under
LEAN OVER 154.5 (-108).
The Over has hit in back-to-back games for Wake Forest and is 8-2 in its last 10 overall. The Over has been safe for the Demon Deacons this season with an O/U record of 11-7. The Over has also hit in 5 consecutive Wake Forest-North Carolina matchups.
Both teams average north of 80 points per game — Wake Forest scores 81.1 PPG, while UNC averages 83.4 PPG), so I am confident in the Over to hit here.
The reason for the LEAN is because the Under has been dominant during UNC’s current win streak, cashing in 6 of the last 8 games.
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