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College Basketball ACC Tournament Betting Preview (2023)

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The North Carolina Tar Heels were the poster child for a topsy-turvy regular season in ACC Men’s Basketball. The Tar Heels opened the season as the No. 1 team in the AP poll but have not been ranked since the calendar turned to January. Furthermore, their regular season finale against the Duke Blue Devils was just the fourth time this century that neither team was ranked when they played head-to-head. With those two traditional powerhouses experiencing down years, the Miami Hurricanes claimed their second-ever ACC regular season title and first since 2013.

The ACC Tournament is uniquely structured to span five days, from Tuesday, March 7 to Saturday, March 11. The six lowest seeds will be in action on Tuesday, while the No. 5-7 seeds await the winners of those contests in the second round. The league’s top four seeds receive a double-bye to the quarterfinals.

Here is how the bracket for the ACC Tournament looks.

This article is a comprehensive betting preview for the 2023 ACC men’s basketball tournament. Read on for the 2022-23 ACC standings, odds to win the ACC Tournament, and several teams to keep your eye on, from the favorites to a longshot. Be sure to check back on Saturday for our ACC Tournament Championship preview.

ACC Conference Tournament

Dates: March 7-11
Venue: Greensboro Coliseum - Greensboro, NC
Top Seed: Miami

Previous Winners:

  • 2022 - Virginia Tech
  • 2021 - Georgia Tech
  • 2020 - N/A
  • 2019 - Duke
  • 2018 - Virginia
  • 2017 - Duke



Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook

Favorite to Watch

Duke (+280)

After losing consecutive road games to the league’s top two teams (Miami and Virginia) by a combined 29 points, the Blue Devils finished the regular season with six consecutive wins. The emergence of Tyrese Proctor has been vital to Duke’s winning streak, as he gives the Blue Devils another ball-handler and playmaker to take defensive attention away from Jeremy Roach. Proctor has scored in double figures in four consecutive games, and when he is putting pressure on opposing defenses as he has in the last two games (16 combined free throw attempts), Duke is hard to guard.

This is the healthiest Duke has been all year, as Roach, Dariq Whitehead, and Dereck Lively have all missed games. However, we expect the Blue Devils to play much better offensively than their seventh-ranked adjusted offensive efficiency in league play now that their roster is intact. Duke is a menace to keep off the offensive glass, ranking seventh nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (36.8%) and ranks in the top two in league play in effective field goal percentage defense, 3-point shooting percentage allowed (32.2%), and 2-point shooting percentage allowed (46.3%).

Duke will have what feels like a homecourt advantage every time it takes the floor playing in Greensboro, and its +280 odds are more than fair, given it is the hottest team in the league that benefits from a coveted double bye.

Top Live Underdog

Clemson (+600)

Clemson’s path to at least the semifinals is favorable, considering it is a combined 5-0 against all possible quarterfinal opponents (NC State, Virginia Tech, and Notre Dame). And if seeding holds, the Tigers would face a Virginia team in the semifinals that have not beaten anyone other than ACC bottomfeeder Louisville away from home since the calendar turned to February.

Clemson has the rare combination of the best 2-point shooting percentage (55.4%) and 2-point shooting percentage allowed (45.0%) in league play, and its ability to knock free throws down consistently (79.3% ranks fifth in the country), gives it an edge in close games. The Tigers have not won more than one ACC tournament game since 2008, but also started the year 7-0 in league play and have the necessary blend of a strong bench and experience to make a deep run.

Best Longshot Play

NC State (+1200)

This bet is all about the Wolfpack backcourt, as the guard combination of Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner (each average 17.3 points per game) is as lethal as any 1-2 punch in the league. NC State has two other players averaging double figures, and its up-tempo style that ranks 93rd nationally (per KenPom) is challenging to prepare for in a tournament setting.

The Wolfpack own wins over three of the top four teams on the ACC tournament odds list and make for an excellent hedge play on the bottom half of the bracket that avoids Duke or Miami until the championship round.

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Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.

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