The Duke Blue Devils take on the Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. Our college baseball odds series has our Duke Virginia prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Duke Virginia.
This is the first game of the Super Regionals in the NCAA Tournament. The winner gets two chances to win the best-of-three series, while the loser has to win on Saturday and then Sunday to advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Duke won the Conway (South Carolina) Regional, beating seeded Coastal Carolina in the final game. Duke lost to Coastal once after moving into the winner's bracket, but the Blue Devils were able to win the rematch to move to the supers.
Virginia won its home regional in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers were able to move through without losing a single game. They defeated East Carolina twice, getting great pitching both times. Virginia's staff — starters and bullpen — had an excellent weekend. The Hoos will try to replicate that caliber of performance in the Super Regionals on their home field.
Here are the Duke-Virginia NCAA Baseball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NCAA Baseball Odds: Duke-Virginia Game 1 Odds
Duke Blue Devils: +1.5 (-130)
Virginia Cavaliers: -1.5 (+100)
Over: 12.5 (-102)
Under: 12.5 (-128)
How To Watch Duke vs. Virginia Game 1
TV: ESPN2
Stream: ESPN+
Time: Approx. 12:00 p.m. ET/9:00 a.m. PT
*Watch Duke-Virginia LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Duke Could Cover The Spread
The Blue Devils are the lower-ranked team in this Super Regional series, but their familiarity with Virginia as an ACC opponent should relax them and enable them to play well. Duke knows it is not the team facing a lot of pressure in this series. Virginia is fully expected to win and advance. Duke can play freely, and that is a great place to be for a very good team which has already won a regional game on an opponent's home field. The decisive win over Coastal Carolina in the Conway Regional final showed that Duke can go onto an opponent's home field and play great baseball. The Blue Devils have to like this setup in Charlottesville.
Why Virginia Could Cover The Spread
The Cavaliers are the better team in this series. Virginia finished second in the ACC, and Duke fifth. Virginia has the pitching to win in the baseball postseason. The Cavaliers did not give up very many big hits in their regional one week ago. They stayed out of the big inning and did not make significant mistakes. That level of pitching discipline eclipses what happened to Duke in its regional. The Blue Devils did advance, but their pitching did have a rough ride in the second-to-last game against Coastal. Duke won the final, but Coastal scored eight runs against Duke in the game preceding the championship showdown. Virginia definitely has the superior pitching; that is usually what wins out in elite-level baseball competitions.
While Duke might not face any pressure in this series as the lower-ranked team, Virginia — by getting through the first weekend of postseason baseball — has already shown that it can handle pressure. The Cavaliers aren't going to be weighed down by the stakes in this series. Their ability to win tough, well-pitched games against East Carolina should relax them for this series.
Final Duke-Virginia Prediction & Pick
Virginia's combination of pitching and home-field advantage should give the Cavaliers the upper hand in Game 1. Take UVA.
Final Duke-Virginia Prediction & Pick: Virginia -1.5 (+100)
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