Kentucky vs. Duke Updated Betting Odds: Steam on Blue Devils Moves Line in Champions Classic

Early betting steam on Tuesday morning forced an odds adjustment in one of the marquee matchups on college basketball's season-opening slate between Kentucky and Duke.

In a game that opened with Duke as a 1-point favorite, the betting market pushed the line to Duke -2.5, and eventually to -3 at some books. Action Labs detected early steam on the Blue Devils, which correlates with data shared by sportsbooks across the industry.

At BetMGM, 64% of bets are on Duke in the first game of what will be head coach Mike Krzyzewski's farewell tour. Coach K has announced he will retire at the end of the season.

The Blue Devils enter the season ranked No. 9 but tied for fifth on the oddsboard at +1400 to win the national title. No. 10 Kentucky is right behind at +1600.

Duke will hope freshman and Player of the Year front-runner Paolo Banchero can lead the way. At +700, Banchero trails just Gonzaga's Drew Timme to win the Wooden Award for college basketball's most outstanding player.

Kentucky will have its usual cast of freshmen to lean on, such as TyTy Washington and Daimion Collins to go along with transfers Oscar Tshiebwe (who enrolled in January from West Virginia) and Sahvir Wheeler from Georgia.

The blue bloods meet on Tuesday night in the 2021 Champions Classic, tipping off at 9:30 p.m. ET following Kansas and Michigan State.

Kansas is a 4.5-point favorite in that game, down from the opening number of -5. At BetMGM, 62% of bets are on the Jayhawks.

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