North Carolina vs. Duke Saturday ACC basketball odds: Rare unranked meeting marks first matchup since 2022 Final Four

ESPN fosters an incredible amount of hype leading up to the two North Carolina-Duke college basketball regular-season matchups each year. But Saturday's ACC renewal from Cameron Indoor Stadium is unusual because both teams are unranked, a huge rarity. It's also their first meeting since a memorable Final Four matchup won by the Heels in an upset last April to send Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski into retirement. Saturday will be the first time since the 1961-62 season there will be no Dean Smith, Roy Williams or Coach K on the sideline for a Duke-UNC game. The Blue Devils opened at -3.5.

The two bluebloods were unranked in both meetings during the 2020-21 season, but that was the shortened, fan-free COVID campaign. Prior to that, the last such unranked meeting was Feb. 27, 1960. The Heels were ranked atop both preseason polls after nearly winning the 2022 NCAA Tournament, and the Blue Devils were No. 7 under first-year coach Jon Scheyer.

The winner Saturday might get back in the AP Top 25 on Monday. They are each 7-4 in league play, tied for sixth and 2.5 games back of first-place Clemson (10-2) with UNC +2000 to win the ACC regular-season and Duke +3500.

North Carolina (15-7) had a four-game winning streak snapped Wednesday in a 65-64 home upset loss to Pittsburgh after Jamarius Burton made the game-winning foul shots with three seconds left. UNC couldn't even get off a shot on the final play of the game -- Nike Sibande blocked Caleb Love as time expired. UNC hit just 5 of its 27 3-point shots (18.5%) and 23 of 66 field goal attempts overall, losing despite holding its seventh consecutive opponent under 70 points.

CBS Sports expert Jerry Palm has Hubert Davis' squad currently as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament – the same seed as last year. The Tar Heels are +750 to reach the Final Four again.

Duke (16-6) nearly was upset at home Tuesday but edged Wake Forest 75-73. Freshman star Kyle Filipowski hit a crucial 3-pointer from the top of the key with 47 seconds left and scored his team's final seven points. Filipowski had his 11th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds and seems a near-lock to win ACC Freshman of the Year. Palm has Duke as a 7-seed. Scheyer's team is +1000 to return the Final Four.

North Carolina and Duke had never met in the NCAA Tournament until the 2022 Final Four, when the Tar Heels ended Coach K's Hall of Fame career with an 81-77 victory. The game came exactly four weeks after the Tar Heels ruined the going-away party in Coach K's final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Krzyzewski finished 50-48 against Carolina, which leads the all-time series 143-115.

UNC is 2-4 in true road games this season with those wins at Louisville and Syracuse. Duke is 11-0 at home.

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