The 2024 college lacrosse season kicks off as last year's national runner-up, Duke, hosts Bellarmine. It is time to continue our College Lacrosse odds series with a Bellarmine-Duke prediction, pick, and how-to watch.

Bellarmine is coming off one of their best years in program history. They won 11 games last year and went 5-4 in conference play. Further, they won their first-ever ASUN conference tournament game in the process, beating Mercer before falling to Utah. Bellarmine brought back a lot from the team last year, including Benn O'Rourk, who scored twice and had an assist last year against Duke.

Meanwhile, Duke is coming off a national title game appearance. They were 16-3 last year and went 5-1 in conference play. In the NCAA Tournament, they would win a close game over Delaware before taking care of Michigan. Then they won a controversial game in the semi-finals thye played against Penn State. The game went to overtime, and in overtime, Duke scored, but the player was clearly in the crease. The referees did not waive the goal off, and with no review available, it stood. Still, Duke would lose in the title game to Notre Dame.

Here are the college lacrosse odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

College Lacrosse Odds: Kansas-Duke Odds

Bellarmine: +10.5 (+104)

Moneyline: +2500

Duke: -10.5 (-128)

Moneyline: -10000

Over: 25.5 (-110)

Under: 25.5 (-110)

How to Watch Bellarmine vs. Duke 

Time: 12:00 ET/ 9:00 AM PT

TV: ACC Network

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why Bellarmine Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Bellarmine offense was solid last year, sitting 18th in the nation in total goals last year with 233. They bring back a lot from that offense as well. First is Kyle Playsted. He was the ASUN co-player of the ear last year and was recognized as an honorable mention All-American.  He was tied for second on the team last year in goals, sitting with 40 of them. Further, le led the team in points last year, having 39 assists, giving him 79 total points. He was also the main guy on the man-up. He scored seven of his goals when Bellarmine was man-up last year.

Bellarmine also returns Christian Della Rocco. Della Rocco led the team with 50 goals last year, while also having three game-winning goals. Further, Della Rocco has ten assists on the year. Rounding out the attack is Benny O'Rourk, who also returns from a solid year. He had 40 goals last year, and 20 assists, tying him for second on the team in total points.

Bellarmine did struggle in a few areas last year. First was ground balls per game. They ranked 51st in the nation in that category. Face-off specialist Grant Gutherie leads the team and he returns this year as well. Still, their top field player in ground ball, Jacob Berggren, is gone. This will mean Denton Macdonald and Brady Long will need to step up on defense, creating turnovers and retrieving ground balls.

In goal, Bellarmine returns JC Higginbotham. He was 28th in the nation last year in save percentage, saving 51.1 percent of the shots he faced. He was solid against Duke last year, coming away with 22 saves in the game.

Why Duke Will Cover The Spread/Win

Duke also returns a lot from last year. Duke was 14th in the nation last year in points per game, averaging 22.53 points per game. Making this team more dangerous is all three of the top goal-scorers are back. Dyson Williams had 60 goals last year and five assists, giving him 65 total points. Also back is Tewaarton Award winner Brennan O'Neill, who scored 55 times, but also dished out 42 assists for 97 total points. O'Neill was a big part of the man-up offense as well, scoring seven times man-up. Finally, Andrew McAdorey is back. He scored 36 goals last year and had 25 assists.

Duke no longer has Garrett Leadmon, who was fourth on the team in goals and points last year, but they do return Aidan Danenza and Charles Balsamo, who both had over 20 goals last year. Further, Duke has added some big transfers. Alex Slusher comes in from Princeton. He led Princeton in goals last year. Further, Josh Zawada comes in from Michigan, where he scored 36 times last year, including twice against Duke. The biggest concern is fitting all these pieces together.

The top three scores, who are all returning, all played attack last year, as did Slusher and Zawada. McAdorey can play some midfield and has done so in the past, while O'Neill did that some at the 2023 World Lacrosse Championship. Growing pains will ensue, and Duke has been known to have a struggling game early in the year in past seasons.

Duke also brings back their top defender from last year. Kenny Brower returns, with 39 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers. He was an All-American and will be helpful in front of the goal. The biggest question for Duke will be in goal. William Helm is back, and he started every game last year. Still, Freshman Patrick Jamieson is expected to contend for the job, as is transfer Griffin Rakower.

Final Bellarmine-Duke Prediction & Pick

Duke dominated this match-up last year. They won the game 19-7, but part of the reason it was close was Duke pulling guys in the second half. Almost the entire Duke roster played in the game after Duke had an 8-0 lead at half-time. There is a major talent discrepancy between these two teams. Bellarmine does have a solid goaltender, which should help this from being a complete blowout. Still, Duke is better in both the face-off circle and the ground ball game. This will lead to more chances for this Duke offense, which is potent and will score plenty.

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Final Bellarmine-Duke Prediction & Pick: Duke -10.5 (-128)