dr bob
DUKE (-27) over Georgia Southern
Duke has a history of success as a huge favorite under coach K, as his teams rarely let up with big leads and garbage time is actually time for his McDonald's All-American bench players to show that they can play. As a result, big leads usually become bigger leads when things get out of hand. Duke is 41-17-1 ATS as a regular season favorite of 23 points or more, including 34-11-1 ATS following a victory. The Blue Devils also apply to a very good 89-36-2 ATS game 2 situation if the line stays at -28 or less. Georgia Southern was a pretty decent team last season, but they lost 4 starters from that team, including assist machine Dwayne Foreman, who dished out over 6 assists per game. Losing a guy that averages 6 assists per game is more damaging than losing a guy that scores 20 points per game and I don't think the Eagles' offense is going to be nearly as good this season without Foreman leading that attack. The Eagles made just 38.7% of their shots last night in a win over a Houston team that’s on their way to a down season and they'll be overwhelmed by Duke's great defense tonight. My ratings favor Duke by 26 points and I'm not interested in giving up line value to force a Best Bet. I'll lean with Duke at -27 1/2 or less, and I'd take Duke in a 2-Star Best Bet at -26 points or less.
DUKE (-27) over Georgia Southern
Duke has a history of success as a huge favorite under coach K, as his teams rarely let up with big leads and garbage time is actually time for his McDonald's All-American bench players to show that they can play. As a result, big leads usually become bigger leads when things get out of hand. Duke is 41-17-1 ATS as a regular season favorite of 23 points or more, including 34-11-1 ATS following a victory. The Blue Devils also apply to a very good 89-36-2 ATS game 2 situation if the line stays at -28 or less. Georgia Southern was a pretty decent team last season, but they lost 4 starters from that team, including assist machine Dwayne Foreman, who dished out over 6 assists per game. Losing a guy that averages 6 assists per game is more damaging than losing a guy that scores 20 points per game and I don't think the Eagles' offense is going to be nearly as good this season without Foreman leading that attack. The Eagles made just 38.7% of their shots last night in a win over a Houston team that’s on their way to a down season and they'll be overwhelmed by Duke's great defense tonight. My ratings favor Duke by 26 points and I'm not interested in giving up line value to force a Best Bet. I'll lean with Duke at -27 1/2 or less, and I'd take Duke in a 2-Star Best Bet at -26 points or less.