NCAA Elite Eight Odds: Baylor vs. Duke

Coach K is 10-1 in regional final games. (AP Images)

For all the hype that the Duke Blue Devils get from the mainstream media – I’m talking to you Dick Vitale and ESPN – the Dukies are actually in the Elite Eight for the first time in six years. So for once they actually have lived up to the hype, but the South Region’s top seed certainly will not be the “home” team on Sunday in Houston against No. 3 Baylor, as the Bears’ main campus in Waco is just a three-hour drive or so from Houston. Duke is still a 4-point favorite on Bodog’s college basketball odds.

No team looked better in the Sweet 16 than Baylor (28-7, 18-10 ATS), which clobbered Saint Mary’s 72-49 behind LaceDarius Dunn’s 23 points. The Bears, who are just seven years removed from a scandal that nearly ended their basketball program, haven’t been to the Final Four since 1950. Not bad for a team picked to finish 10th in the Big 12.

Duke (32-5, 21-13-2 ATS), meanwhile, beat Purdue 70-57 on Friday night behind 24 points from Kyle Singler. During Duke's current seven-game win streak, Singler is averaging 21.9 points and 7.1 rebounds, while shooting 48.6 percent from three-point range. The Blue Devils join Kentucky as the only No. 1 seeds to make it to the Elite Eight. And in this round Coach Mike Krzyzewski is money, with his teams going 10-1. Only Houston’s Guy Lewis and UCLA’s John Wooden have a better mark in regional final games.

The Blue Devils, who have won all three tournament games by double digits, were able to dominate Purdue inside, but Baylor has much more size – led by 6-foot-11 Ekpe Udoh and his 3.8 blocks per game -- and will be an entirely different challenge as it is one of the nation’s best rebounding teams. On defense the Bears will pack it in with a 2-3 zone and force Duke to hit from the perimeter. The Dukies haven’t been great from the three-point line lately (Jon Scheyer has struggled from the floor in this tournament), shooting better than 31 percent in just two of their past five games. The Blue Devils have been excellent on defense, however, holding their last six opponents to 55.8 points per game. They are also 10-0 on neutral courts this year.

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