The Wake Forest Demon Deacons take on the Duke Blue Devils. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Wake Forest Duke prediction and pick. Find how to watch Wake Forest Duke.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons badly need this game. They just defeated the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Saturday in a bubble game which was vital for their NCAA Tournament hopes, but that game served the primary purposes of avoiding a damaging loss and getting leverage over another bubble team within the ACC. That game was valuable, but mostly because it hurt N.C. State's chances of making the field and did not drag down Wake Forest's resume. This game at Duke is different from the North Carolina State game. Losing won't represent a negative mark on Wake Forest's resume. However, Wake Forest is in a position where merely winning the games it is supposed to win — games against equal or inferior opponents — won't be good enough to make the NCAA Tournament. The Demon Deacons can't make the field solely by winning those kinds of games. Wake will need at least one needle-moving game in which a win catapults the Deacs up the seed list past several different bubble competitors. That's what this Duke game is for. This would be the high-quality road win which transforms Wake's resume and hugely improves the team's profile. It will be fascinating to see what Wake can bring to the table just two days after the North Carolina State win. This team will have to gather itself and make sure it can stay with Duke for 40 full minutes.

Here are the Wake Forest-Duke College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.

College Basketball Odds: Wake Forest-Duke Odds

Wake Forest Demon Deacons: +6.5 (-105)

Duke Blue Devils: -6.5 (-115)

Over: 152.5 (-106)

Under: 152.5 (-114)

How To Watch Wake Forest vs Duke

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

TV: ESPN

Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why Wake Forest Could Cover the Spread

The Demon Deacons are playing a defining game in their season. It is the kind of game a team spills the fuel tank to play. The Deacs will empty themselves and go full-throttle in an attempt to win, knowing they don't have to play again until the coming weekend. In college basketball, teams drift through some games and attack others. Knowing when teams will step on the gas or take the night off is the difficult but necessary part of college basketball betting. Having a sense of when teams are going to be invested or distracted, committed or confused, is such a vital skill to acquire if at all possible. Wake Forest will give its all in this game as an NCAA Tournament bubble team. The Demon Deacons are facing their big, pivotal moment and will play like it. Duke, which has lost at home to Pitt and nearly lost at home to Georgia Tech, is not consistent or reliable enough to cover a spread of 6.5 points right now.

Why Duke Could Cover the Spread

The Blue Devils are right behind North Carolina and Virginia in the ACC race. They know that if they want to have any chance at the ACC regular-season championship, they have to win this game. They are playing at home. They were not overly tested by Boston College this past Saturday. Wake Forest played a much more taxing game against North Carolina State, and should therefore be more tired than Duke. The game sets up well for the Blue Devils.

Final Wake Forest-Duke Prediction & Pick

Duke has not been a dominant home team this season, which is why you should stay away from this game and wait for a live play.

Final Wake Forest-Duke Prediction & Pick: Duke -6.5