Vermont (13) vs. Duke (4) Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The Blue Devils are 11.5-point favourites on the college basketball odds.
Vermont vs. Duke NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner of Friday’s game will play either No. 5 Wisconsin or No. 12 James Madison on Sunday also in Brooklyn for a trip to the Sweet 16.
Vermont has been one of the most dominant teams nationally in its league – the America East – for years as the Catamounts were regular season and conference tournament champions yet again. The team’s 28 wins are the second-most in school history, and Vermont enters on a 10-game winning streak. This is its third straight NCAA Tournament berth and 10th overall with a combined record of 2-9 in it. The Catamounts’ last Big Dance win was in the 2012 First Four. Last year, they were a No. 15 seed and lost by 17 to No. 2 Marquette.
Teams better beat Duke this season because they might be almost unbeatable next season depending on which players return to join mega-recruits Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach as they might be the top two picks in the 2025 NBA Draft. It would actually be an upset if Flagg doesn’t go first. This is the Blue Devils’ 46th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, fifth-most in history. Last year, which was Jon Scheyer’s first Dance as head coach, Duke was a No. 5 seed and lost in Round 2 to No. 4 Tennessee.
Duke is 3-0 all-time vs. Vermont with the last meeting in November 2013. A total of 32 No. 13 seeds have upset No. 4s since the field expanded in 1985.
Vermont Catamounts (13)
Vermont isn’t a great offensive team but has a Top 25 field-goal percentage defence, holding its opponents to just 40.6 percent from the field and 63 points per game. Coach John Becker will try to slow this game down to a grind because his club can’t compete offensively with Duke. Guard TJ Long is the leading scorer at just 12.2 points per game and this is a guard-oriented team with Long, Shamir Bogues (11.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Aaron Deloney (10.9 ppg). Bogues was named first-team All-America East and to the league’s All-Defensive team. Deloney was second-team all-league and Long third team. The Catamounts have just one loss since Christmas: at NJIT by two points on Feb. 8. They did play one ACC team this season, losing by 22 at Virginia Tech on Dec. 16. The Hokies lost by 10 at home to Duke in their lone meeting.
Duke Blue Devils (4)
As talented as a roster as Duke has, it didn’t win either the ACC regular season or tournament titles, was 0-2 vs. bitter rival North Carolina and enters on a two-game skid, to the Heels at home in the regular-season finale and an upset loss to eventual champion NC State in the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils were first in the ACC in three-point shooting (37.7 per cent), second in scoring (79.8 ppg) and third defensively (67.4 ppg). Kyle Filipowski was named first-team All-ACC and earlier this season has the school’s first 30-point double-double since November 2019. Duke is 119-40 (.748) all-time in the NCAA Tournament, marking the best winning per centage in tournament history by a team with a minimum of 20 games played. The Blue Devils have now been placed in the South Region nine times and are 25-6 when playing in it. Duke is 4-2 all-time as a No. 4 seed and is 2-0 all-time vs. a No. 13 seed. The New York City are is somewhat of a second home to Duke and it is 9-2 all-time at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, highlighted by the ACC Tournament title in 2017.
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