College Basketball Betting: North Carolina Is the Team to Beat in the ACC

The college basketball season is in full swing, and FanDuel Sportsbook has plenty of ways to get in on the action via their college basketball odds. College basketball games are available to bet daily, and FanDuel also offers futures markets, including the one we're going to look at here.

Below are the current odds for the ACC regular season winner followed by a breakdown of the top contenders.

Odds as of February 2nd via FanDuel Sportsbook. If any unlisted team wins the conference, all bets will be voided.

ACC Basketball Odds

North Carolina (-370)

The North Carolina Tar Heels are considerable favorites to win the ACC regular season title.

North Carolina started conference play with nine consecutive wins before dropping a road game at Georgia Tech. Still, their 9-1 record gives them a 1.5-game lead on the next-closest team -- and that team is their next opponent: Duke.

A home win against Duke would put UNC well on their way to the regular season title. That would give them a 2.5-game lead with just nine remaining.

The rest of UNC's schedule isn't easy -- they've already faced four of the ACC's bottom five teams -- but they've consistently rated among the top teams in the country. The Tar Heels rank fifth nationally in nERD, numberFire's measure of overall team efficiency.

Still, with two matchups against Duke and a road date with Virginia on the schedule, there's still plenty of time for UNC to drop out of first.

Duke (+270)

The Duke Blue Devils are the only team close to North Carolina odds-wise.

Duke sits at 7-2 in ACC play, 1.5 games behind UNC. The Blue Devils dropped the first game of conference play but have since rebounded to win seven of their last eight. They face North Carolina in Chapel Hill on February 3rd and could pull within a half-game of the Heels with a win.

Even so, Duke faces North Carolina again in the last game of the regular season. On top of that, they still must face Virginia and have road dates with Florida State, NC State, and Wake Forest -- all teams with winning records in ACC play.

The Blue Devils have two more games against the bottom-two teams in the conference, so it isn't all bad.

While North Carolina is the rightful favorite, Duke is right up with their rival based on the advanced metrics, with Duke sitting 14th nationally in nERD.

If you like Duke's chances, it would be wise to get them now. A win over UNC on Saturday would shake up this market and result in a much shorter number for Duke.

Virginia (+4200)

The Virginia Cavaliers are the only other team with odds shorter than +10000.

Virginia started conference play just 2-3 but rattled off five consecutive wins to move into third place. At 7-3 in league play, the Cavaliers are 2.5 games back of first with 10 games remaining.

They've yet to play Duke or North Carolina but benefit from facing each of them only one time.

Despite having the third-shortest odds, Virginia hasn't put together a very inspiring analytical profile. The Cavaliers rank 68th in nERD, which is just seventh among ACC schools.

Still, they boast the longest active win streak in the conference and have an outside chance of making a run at the title if they stay hot.

Others

It's worth noting that every team aside from North Carolina and Duke has at least three losses. Although Miami won the regular season last year with five losses, that was just the second time in the last 20 years that the champion had five losses.

Wake Forest (+11000) has the fourth-shortest odds to win the ACC regular season title. The Demon Deacons sit at just 5-4 in conference play, but they've already faced North Carolina once. They have three total games with Duke and Virginia remaining but notably sit at No. 40 in nERD, fourth among ACC teams.

Florida State (+14000) is fourth in ACC standings thanks to a 6-3 record, but they have the fifth-shortest odds to win the regular season crown. FSU has dropped two of their last three, but they benefit from having to face Duke and Virginia just once apiece the rest of the way. The Seminoles are 69th in nERD, eighth among ACC teams.

From an analytic standpoint, Clemson (+25000) profiles as the third-best team in the ACC. They're 32nd in nERD but are tied for the sixth-longest odds to win the regular season title. They've dug themselves quite a hole with a 4-5 start, so they'd likely need to win out and get some help to win the title.

Virginia Tech (57th in nERD), Miami (65th), Syracuse (80th), and NC State (83rd) close out the listed teams at +25000. Scheduling-wise, NC State benefits from having just four losses, but they still have to play North Carolina and Duke.

The rest of the teams all have five losses. Virginia Tech and Syracuse have only one remaining game against UNC or Duke, but Miami has to face Duke and UNC a combined three times.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.