First place in the ACC will be on the line tonight in College Park as 23rd ranked Maryland hosts 4th ranked Duke on ESPN. The Blue Devils are now favored by 1.5 points at BetUS Sportsbook as they look to win a ninth straight game.

Duke currently holds a one-game edge over the Terps in the conference standings. They defeated Maryland 77-56 on February 13th as 9.5-point favorites, so win here would give them a season sweep and clinch the ACC Regular Season Title. The Terrapins have the edge when it comes to the pointspread in conference play though going 11-3 ATS vs. fellow league opponents compared to 9-4-1 ATS for the Blue Devils.

Maryland is 14-2 SU at home this season with the only losses coming to Villanova (excusable) and William & Mary (huh?) during the non-conference slate. Therefore, you might think that makes them quite attractive in this price range. However, they didn’t cover in that game vs. ‘Nova, a 95-86 loss as 2.5-point underdogs, the only other time this season they were taking points at home. Looking back further, the Terps are a bankroll busting 0-5 ATS as a home dog of six points or less.

Gary Williams’ team has not lost a game since the first meeting with Duke, a five-game run. However, they have lost six straight times to the Blue Devils.

Look out for Maryland leading scorer Greivis Vasquez, who scored a career-high 41 points in Saturday’s double overtime win at Virginia Tech, 104-100, as 1.5-point underdogs. That was a season-high in points for the team, ironically, against the Blue Devils they produced their second lowest scoring output of the year. In four of their six losses this year, the Terrapins have scored less than 70 points. They have scored more than 70 in all but one of their 21 victories. At home, they are averaging 84.4 PPG.

This year’s edition of the Blue Devils is quite possibly Coach K’s most under the radar team in years. They are currently in position to earn one of the four #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, provided they finish strong, but you wouldn’t know it from listening to most major media outlets, which is unusual when it comes to this high-profile school. Perhaps the main reason is that the ACC is considered to be in the midst of a “down year.”

Totals players will want to know that these teams have gone Under in five straight meetings.