Duke vs. Virginia Tech Betting Odds: Opening Spread for NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

#1 Duke vs. #4 Virginia Tech NCAA Tournament Betting Odds

• Spread: Duke -7.5
• Over/Under: 145
• Date: Friday, March 29
• Time: 9:39 p.m. ET
• Location: Washington, D.C.
• TV: CBS

Duke barely survived against Central Florida in the Round of 32, beating Tacko Fall & Co. by one point as a buzzer-beating tip from UCF rimmed out.

Virginia Tech took care of business against Liberty in the second round, setting up a ACC rematch in the Sweet 16. The Hokies won the teams' only meeting this season, 77-72, in Blacksburg.

Duke's Statistical Profile

Duke is the most talented team in the country IF Zion Williamson is healthy. The Blue Devils struggled with the consensus top pick in the NBA Draft sidelined, stumbling to 3-3 in their final six games during the regular season.

Zion returned for the conference tournament and it was back to business as usual for Duke. Williamson led Duke to the ACC Tournament title en route to MVP honors, with wins over Syracuse, North Carolina and Florida State.

With Zion back to full health and this team once again rolling, the Devils enter March Madness as the favorites to win the NCAA Tournament. — PJ Walsh

• Record: 29-5
• Adj. Efficiency Rank: 3
• Adj. Offensive Efficiency Rank: 6
• Adj. Defensive Efficiency Rank: 7
• Tempo Rank: 15

All advanced metrics via KenPom from before NCAA Tournament.

Virginia Tech's Statistical Profile

A top-10 offensive team in the country (per KenPom), Virginia Tech took care of business against the weaker competition in the ACC this year, but struggled against its stronger conference opponents. The Hokies finished fifth in the ACC during the regular season, but only recorded one win against the four teams above them in the standings.

That win was their biggest of the season, and came less than three weeks ago against a Zion-less Duke. Aside from that, though, their only notable victories were over NC State and Purdue.

This is Virginia Tech’s third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 11th overall. The Hokies have never won more than two games in a single tournament, and will be looking to end a streak of two consecutive first round exits.

They’ll also look to pick up their first against-the-spread (ATS) tournament win in our Bet Labs database (since 2005), as they currently sit at 0-4 ATS. — Danny Donahue

• Record: 24-8
• Adj. Efficiency Rank: 11
• Adj. Offensive Efficiency Rank: 10
• Adj. Defensive Efficiency Rank: 25
• Tempo Rank: 337

All advanced metrics via KenPom from before NCAA Tournament.

Sean Koerner's Duke-Virginia Tech Projections

Get point spreads for this game and every possible tournament matchup with our bracket simulator built by Sean Koerner, our Director of Predictive Analytics, a former oddsmaker and FantasyPros' most accurate in-season fantasy football ranker from 2015-2017.

• Spread: Duke -11.5
• Total: 142
• Proj Score: Duke 77 | Virginia Tech 65.5
• Win Probability: Duke 87.7% | Virginia Tech 12.3%