Duke Blue Devils vs. Louisville Cardinals Odds, Analysis, Betting Preview

The 20th-ranked Duke Blue Devils (20-6) are coming off their biggest win of the season and will try to avoid a letdown when they visit the 18th-ranked Louisville Cardinals (20-6) on Saturday.

The Blue Devils earned their fifth-straight victory by upsetting the fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels 74-73 as 8.5-point road underdogs Wednesday and hope to extend their winning streak away from home again as 6.5-point underdogs at Louisville.

Duke will be attempting to sweep the season series versus the Cardinals after beating them 72-65 on February 8 as 3.5-point home favorites. That was also the first of three consecutive games going under the total for the Blue Devils, who have stepped up their defense lately as they go for another national championship.

They handed the Tar Heels their third ACC loss and pulled within one game of the conference lead, which is shared between North Carolina and the Miami Hurricanes, who are each 10-3. The Virginia Cavaliers are at 10-4.

Louisville is one of three teams sitting at 9-4 in ACC play along with Duke and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Cardinals are coming off a 72-58 rout of the Syracuse Orange as nine-point home favorites Wednesday to end a two-game skid. The total went over the closing number of 127.5 in that game to end a string of five unders in a row.

They have won their last three home games both straight up and against the spread since falling to Virginia 63-47 as five-point favorites on January 30.

With Louisville ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to a self-imposed postseason ban, this game against the Blue Devils is the team’s last big matchup at the KFC Yum! Center this year. That means the Cardinals should be very motivated for this nationally televised game as they try to beat Duke for only the second time in five meetings.

The Blue Devils are 3-1 SU and ATS in the past four games between the teams, according to the OddsShark College Basketball Database. Louisville’s lone victory in the series during that stretch came three years ago 85-63 in the Elite Eight as a four-point favorite.