Pittsburgh vs. Virginia Tech ACC basketball odds, bracketology: Panthers put nation's only unbeaten against-the-spread road record on line Saturday

As far as I can tell, no major Division I college basketball program has finished unbeaten against the spread on the road in at least the past five years. One school has a shot to accomplish that this season: Pittsburgh, which is 9-0 ATS away from home as it visits Virginia Tech in ACC action on Saturday afternoon. The odds at Caesars Sportsbook aren't out as of this writing, but the Hokies will be favored.

Coach Jeff Capel's Panthers are also 7-2 straight up in those nine games, losing 75-74 at Vanderbilt on Dec. 7 as 3.5-point underdogs and 77-69 at Duke on Jan. 11 as 9-point dogs. In only three of the nine road games has Pitt been favored. The Panthers' seven road wins are tied for second-most in the NCAA among power conference teams. At home, the Panthers are 10-5 ATS and their overall 19-6-1 ATS mark is the nation's best.

(If you are wondering, there are no schools unbeaten ATS at home with at least eight lined games or winless ATS on the road.)

Jamarius Burton, an ACC Player of the Year candidate, is averaging 16.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game in conference play for the Panthers. Blake Hinson is the only player in the ACC averaging 15.5 or more points (15.9 PPG.) and 6.0 or more rebounds per game (6.3 RPG.) with 65 or more made 3-pointers (68).

Capel has done a remarkable job, largely thanks to transfers, considering Pitt (19-7 straight up) as picked to finish 14th in the 15-team ACC. The Panthers enter Saturday's action on a six-game overall winning streak and are tied for the conference lead at 12-3 with Virginia. Pitt would win that tiebreaker as it beat the visiting Cavaliers 68-65 on Jan. 3.

Yet DraftKings only lists Pitt as a +425 third-favorite to win the regular-season title behind UVA (-175) and Miami (+330). Pittsburgh currently holds a tiebreaker over the Hurricanes as well, but the teams close the regular season in Miami on March 4.

CBS Sports' Jerry Palm has Pitt a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament's South Region and facing No. 8 Auburn. ESPN places Pitt as a No. 9 as well, in the East against No. 8 Maryland. The Panthers, who finished 11-21 last year, haven't been gone dancing since 2016.

Virginia Tech (15-11, 5-10) will need to win the ACC Tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight time – not counting the canceled 2020 Big Dance. The five straight trips mark the eighth-longest active streak nationally and second in the ACC behind North Carolina's 11 (which might end).

The Hokies come off a 77-70 loss at a bad Georgia Tech team on Wednesday. Justyn Mutts came just short of a triple-double for the second game in a row, notching 17 points, 11 boards and nine assists. He had 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the previous game, a win at Notre Dame. Mutts is 24 rebounds shy of becoming the second active Division I player to achieve 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 400 assists career.

This is the only scheduled meeting between the schools. The Hokies have won seven of the last eight matchups overall. 

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