North Dakota State vs. Duke Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
A No. 16 seed has beaten a No. 1 seed just one time in NCAA Tournament history. Probably not going to happen again Friday evening when No. 16 North Dakota State takes on No. 1 Duke from Columbia, South Carolina.
North Dakota State (16) vs. Duke (1) NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
No. 1 seeds are 135-1 all-time against No. 16 seeds entering this NCAA Tournament. That loss, though, was an ACC team that was the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed last year: Virginia. That’s the position Duke finds itself this year.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s club ended the regular season at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 and is the +225 favourite to win the school’s sixth national championship and -286 favourite to win the East Region and reach the Final Four for the 17th time and first since 2015, which was the last time Duke won it all.
The NCAA Tournament selection committee began designating a No. 1 overall seed in 2004 and just three times has it won the title, last in 2013 (Louisville – since vacated). The only other time Duke was that No. 1 overall was in 2006 when it lost in the Sweet 16 to LSU. But the Blue Devils do seem comfortable in Minneapolis, the site of this year’s Final Four. The last two times the city hosted the Final Four, in 1992 & 2001, Duke won it all. Those were held the now-demolished Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
It’s the first-ever meeting between North Dakota State and Duke.
North Dakota State Bison
The Bison were 78-74 winners over North Carolina Central on Wednesday in the First Four, the school’s second NCAA Tournament victory since moving to Division I 11 years ago. Tyson Ward led all players with 23 points, while star Vinnie Shahid had 14 points and hit key free throws late – this is one of the nation’s best teams from the charity stripe, hitting better than 77 per cent. NDSU blew a 13-point second-half lead and was down five with just over five minutes to go. Duke will be the second No. 1 ranked team that North Dakota State has faced this season. The Bison lost 102-60 at No. 1 Gonzaga on Nov. 26.
Duke Blue Devils
Duke has the most electric talent in college basketball in many years in freshman superstar Zion Williamson, the ACC Player of the Year (and Freshman of the Year) and a sure-fire No. 1 overall pick in this summer’s NBA Draft. There’s just never been anyone athletically quite like the 6-foot-7, 285-pounder who will be playing the first two rounds in his home state. When Williamson missed six games due to a foot injury (counting the game he left very early), the Blue Devils were 3-3. With him, they beat Virginia twice and also won the ACC Tournament, including payback against North Carolina for two regular-season losses without Williamson. Of course, Duke also has another stellar freshman who should be chosen either No. 2 or No. 3 in this year’s NBA Draft in R.J. Barrett, who is from Mississauga. He led the ACC in scoring this year at 22.9 ppg and set the ACC freshman and Duke freshman single-season scoring record in total points with 779. Barrett was considered by most a better NBA prospect than Williamson entering this season.
