It's never easy to take on the No. 1 team in the nation, much less when you have a team of mainly freshmen and the pressure of being one of the greatest programs of all time looming overhead as well.
Yet, that's exactly what the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils are about to do as they prepare to face the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines, and as expected, the oddsmakers are favoring the higher-ranked, more experienced team in the matchup.
When the opening odds were released on Wednesday, more than three full days before the top teams tipped off, the Wolverines were favored by 2.5 points over the Blue Devils.
Opening odds for No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 3 Duke men's basketball
- Spread: -2.5 points, Michigan
- Moneyline: -156 Michigan, +130 Duke
- Over-under: +/-147.5 points
Vegas oddsmakers are expecting the top-five matchup to be nearly as close as can be, giving the slight edge to Michigan over Duke.
With the point total set at just 147.5 points and the spread set at 2.5 points, oddsmakers don't expect either team to score more than 76 points by the end of the game.
This spread is despite the fact that the Blue Devils just put on a show against the Syracuse Orange, absolutely dismantling the ACC team in a 101-64 win. On the other side of the argument, the Wolverines just pulled off a 91-80 win over the No. 7 Purdue Boilermakers.
It is impossible to deny that Michigan head coach Dusty May has done an incredible job with the Wolverines since taking over in Ann Arbor just over a year ago. However, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has also done incredibly well since taking over for none other than Mike Krzyzewski in 2022.
This game will literally be a clash of titans as the two powerhouse programs look to cement themselves as one of the best teams in the nation this season.
If Duke can pull off the upset, which is made more likely by playing at a neutral site, it would be hard to deny the Blue Devils the No.1 spot in the next rankings.
Michigan and Duke are scheduled to play at 6:30 p.m. ET in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Feb. 21, and the game will be available on ESPN.