Wednesday NCAA Basketball Betting Tip Sheet: Big East & ACC

This Wednesday night’s college basketball betting action gets underway with an interesting showdown between nationally ranked teams in the Big East. Later that night, a North Carolina rivalry game in the ACC takes center stage on ESPN.

The first game of the night pits the No. 21 Butler Bulldogs on the road against the No. 16 Seton Hall Pirates. Down in Raleigh, the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils make the trip from Durham to face the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

No. 21 Butler Bulldogs at No. 16 Seton Hall Pirates
(FOX Sports 1, 6:30 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: >Seton Hall -5, Total 134.5
Provided by Unibet (NJ and PA only)
Odds subject to change

Betting Matchup

The Bulldogs slipped to 2-3 straight-up over their past five games with Saturday’s 73-66 loss to Georgetown as heavy 11 ½-point home favorites. This was the fifth-straight game they failed to cover including an earlier PUSH in a three-point home win against Villanova. They lost the first meeting this season against Seton Hall 78-70 as 4 ½-point home favorites on Jan. 15.

Butler (19-7 SU) has gone 1-8-1 against the spread in their last 10 games as part of an even 12-12-1 mark ATS on the year. The total has stayed UNDER in four of its last six contests. The Bulldogs remain four deep with players averaging at least nine points per game.

Seton Hall (18-7 SU, 15-9-1 ATS) is a conference-best 10-3 SU in Big East play but its lead is down to just one game over Creighton after suffering back-to-back losses to the Bluejays at home and to Providence on the road. The Pirates are 2-3 SU in their last five outings and 2-5-1 ATS in their last eight games.

The total has gone OVER in three of their last four games while giving up an average of 74 PPG. This compares with a 66.6 points-allowed average of the year. Seton Hall is averaging 74.4 points a game behind guard Myles Powell (21.7 points).

Betting Trends

-- The Bulldogs are 2-8 SU in their last 10 road games as underdogs but they improve to 4-2 ATS in their last six road games getting points. The total has stayed UNDER in four or their last five games as road underdogs.

-- The Pirates have won eight of their last nine home games SU as favorites but they have failed to cover in their last four games giving points at home. The total has stayed UNDER in seven of their last 10 games as home favorites.

-- With the earlier win, Seton Hall has a SU record of 5-2 in its last seven games against Butler and it has a 6-1 edge ATS. The total has gone OVER in four of the last six meetings.

No. 6 Duke Blue Devils at North Carolina State Wolfpack
(ESPN, 9:00 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: >Duke -6.5, Total 150.5
Provided by Unibet (NJ and PA only)
Odds subject to change

Betting Matchup

The Blue Devils (12-2 SU) have a half-game lead over Louisville in the ACC after winning their last seven conference games. They have gone 3-4 ATS in this same span with the total going OVER in eight of their last 10 outings. Duke is 22-3 SU overall with a 13-12 record ATS.

In last Saturday’s lopsided 94-60 victory at home against Notre Dame, center Vernon Carey Jr. scored 21 points with guard Tre Jones adding 19 points as the Blue Devils’ top two scorers this season. Combined, this duo is scoring 33.4 of the team’s 83 points a game.

N.C. State (16-9 SU) is in the middle of the pack in the ACC at 7-7 SU in conference play. It is coming off Sunday’s 71-68 road loss to Boston College as a four-point favorite. The Wolfpack have failed to cover in four of their last six games and the total has stayed UNDER in nine of their last 11 games.

They are averaging 74.3 PPG with five different players scoring at least 10 points a night. Senior guard CJ Bryce leads the Wolfpack in both points (14.0) and rebounds (6.1).

Betting Trends

-- The Blue Devils have won eight of their last 10 road games as favorites. They have failed to cover in six of the same 10 games and the total has gone OVER in four of their last six road games as favorites.

-- The Wolf Pack are 1-3 SU in their last four home games as underdogs but they have gone 5-2 ATS in their last seven games as home underdogs. The total has stayed UNDER in their last three games getting points at home.

-- Duke has won seven of its last 10 games against NC State SU but the Wolfpack have the 7-3 edge ATS. The total has gone OVER in the last six games between the two in-state rivals.