The Duke Blue Devils take on the NC State Wolfpack. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Duke NC State prediction and pick. Find how to watch Duke NC State.

The Duke Blue Devils are playing a lot better at the start of March than they were in the middle of January. We have seen this team evolve in the ACC to the point that it has pushed North Carolina into the final week of the regular season and has a chance to share the ACC regular-season championship with the Tar Heels. Many people didn't think that was a likely outcome a month and a half ago, when Duke was regularly getting outplayed on the road in the ACC and Jon Scheyer hadn't been able to get his team to play tougher defense. Duke has clearly improved, as seen in a recent beatdown of Virginia this past weekend. Duke looks like a team which can be more of a factor at the NCAA Tournament.

Duke has a home game against North Carolina this upcoming Saturday. The final game of every ACC men's basketball regular season is Duke-Carolina. The teams play the back end of their two-game series. This year, the second game of the home-and-home is in Durham. The Blue Devils therefore have a very good chance of catching the Tar Heels, but they need to win this game first against North Carolina State. If Duke loses its next game and Carolina wins its next game, the Tar Heels will clinch the outright ACC title, taking some of the box-office appeal out of Saturday's big Duke-UNC rematch.

Here are the Duke-NC State College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.

College Basketball Odds: Duke-NC State Odds

Duke Blue Devils: -5.5 (-118)

NC State Wolfpack: +5.5 (-104)

Over: 149.5 (-105)

Under: 149.5 (-115)

How To Watch Duke vs NC State

Time: 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 pm PT

TV: ESPN

Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why Duke Could Cover the Spread

The best reason to pick Duke is that North Carolina State is probably going to be drained from Saturday's rivalry-game loss to North Carolina. NC State played a great first half and led North Carolina by eight points at halftime. However, State missed 15 consecutive shots at one point in the second half and fell apart at the offensive end of the floor. A very long scoring drought cost the Pack dearly in a loss which added to the misery of their season. Losing a rivalry game and then having to come back just two days later to play Duke will be a tough task for NC State. Keep in mind that Duke easily defeated Virginia in a blowout which reduced stress and strain on the Blue Devils' starters. No key Duke player was overextended in terms of minutes or overall workload. That should enable Duke to be fresher than North Carolina State. Duke is already playing better than State, but the Blue Devils should also be in better physical condition for this contest.

Why NC State Could Cover the Spread

The struggles of Duke on the road haven't been quite as pronounced as they were in January, but they are still real. Duke lost at Wake Forest over a week ago, in the game which involved the infamous court-storming incident involving Kyle Filipowski. Duke hasn't tripped up nearly as much in recent weeks, but the Blue Devils haven't completely put that road-game problem to bed. They are still vulnerable.

Final Duke-NC State Prediction & Pick

Duke is playing a lot better than NC State, and has plenty to play for here. Take Duke.

Final Duke-NC State Prediction & Pick: Duke -5.5