NCAA Basketball Picks: Miami Hurricanes vs. North Carolina Tar Heels

The North Carolina Tar Heels (10-4) have won 10 straight series meetings with the Miami Hurricanes (10-3), which is important to consider when making your college basketball against-the-spread (ATS) picks, as they meet up at the Smith Center on Thursday night.

Sports bettors will find that the Tar Heels are five-point home favorites in the NCAA basketball odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total has moved up two points from its opening number, settling in at 142.

Let's take a closer look at this Atlantic Coast Conference matchup from a betting perspective, while offering a prediction along the way.

Miami Hurricanes

The Miami Hurricanes are dangerous road underdogs at Chapel Hill on Thursday night, with senior guard Durand Scott leading the offense in averaging 14.7 points per game.

Sports bettors will also take notice of the Hurricanes being 15-9 ATS on the road over the last two-plus seasons.

North Carolina Tar Heels

The North Carolina Tar Heels will try to bounce back from a 61-52 setback against the Virginia Cavaliers. As three-point road underdogs last time out, they've compiled an impressive 43-18-1 ATS mark following a straight-up loss.

It's still important to note that the program has failed to cover the number in five of six games this year versus an opponent that allows 64 points or less per game.

Miami allows opponents to score 59.2 points per game on 37.4 percent shooting from the floor. 

Prediction

I'm going to recommend that readers back the Miami Hurricanes as one of their NCAA basketball picks on Thursday night, as they've gone 4-1-1 ATS in their last six games versus ACC foes.

College Basketball Pick: Miami Hurricanes +5

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