College Basketball Betting: Virginia vs. North Carolina Odds, ACC Championship

For the first time since 2011, the top two seeds in the ACC tournament will meet in the conference title game, and Saturday’s championship matchup could not be more even.

The top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels (27-6) and second-seeded Virginia Cavaliers (26-6) met only once during the regular season, with the latter defeating the former 79-74 as 2.5-point home favorites to improve to 3-1 straight up and against the spread in the past four meetings, according to the Odds Shark College Basketball Database.

The Tar Heels won the ACC regular-season title with a 14-4 record and bring a four-game winning streak into the championship game. North Carolina opened as a 1.5-point betting favorite for the matchup.

In their last three games they have covered the spread, winning both of their two ACC tournament games by a combined 48 points following a 78-47 rout of the fourth-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the semifinals on Friday as consensus 7.5-point favorites at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

The Fighting Irish were the defending ACC tournament champions but allowed a massive 24-0 North Carolina run between the end of the first half and start of the second that blew the game wide open.

The Cavaliers were involved in a much different semifinal against the third-seeded Miami Hurricanes, but they ultimately prevailed with a 73-68 victory, covering the spread as consensus four-point favorites at the sportsbooks.

Virginia is also riding a four-game winning streak and avenged its last loss at Miami on February 22, extending a five-point halftime lead to as many as 13 with 3:10 remaining before holding on for the win and cover.

ACC Player of the Year Malcolm Brogdon led the Cavs with a game-high 24 points versus the Hurricanes, and he also scored 26 in the last meeting with the Tar Heels.

Defense figures to be the difference in the ACC championship game, as Virginia has been able to limit North Carolina offensively in its last three wins. The Tar Heels have averaged just 66.3 points in those games, although the past five meetings have all gone over the total after a run of nine consecutive unders in the series.

The under is 10-1 in the last 11 games for the Cavs overall and has also cashed in three of four for North Carolina. The Heels last won the ACC tournament title in 2008 while Virginia took it home in 2014.