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The No. 9 Duke Blue Devils will try to improve upon their recent history against the Louisville Cardinals when the teams meet in a key ACC game on Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. The Blue Devils (16-3, 6-2 ACC) are just 6-5 against the Cardinals since the 2013-14 season. That's Duke's second worst record against a conference opponent during that span. The Blue Devils are coming off a 71-69 loss to Clemson. Meanwhile Louisville (11-9, 5-5) is trying to stop a recent skid. The Cardinals have lost back-to-back games and five of their last six. Mike Pegues is serving as the interim head coach for the Cardinals after they fired coach Chris Mack earlier this week.

Tipoff is set for noon ET. The Blue Devils are favored by 6.5 points in the latest Duke vs. Louisville odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the over-under for total points scored is 142. Before making any Louisville vs. Duke picks, be sure to check out what the red-hot SportsLine Projection Model has to say. 

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Div. I college basketball game 10,000 times. It enters Week 12 of the season with a 49-36 record on all top-rated college basketball picks, returning almost $700. Over the past five-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated an impressive profit of $2,800 for $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks against the spread. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.
 
Now, the model has set its sights on Duke vs. Louisville, and just locked in its picks and CBB predictions. You can visit SportsLine now to see the model's picks. Here are the college basketball odds and betting lines for Louisville vs. Duke:

  • Duke vs. Louisville spread: Blue Devils -6.5
  • Duke vs. Louisville over-under: 142 points 
  • Duke vs. Louisville money line: Duke -280, Louisville +230
  • DUKE: Blue Devils rank third in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.71) 
  • LOU: Cardinals rank third in the ACC in field goal percentage defense (41.4)

Why the Blue Devils can cover

Talented freshman Paolo Banchero is on a roll. The 6-foot-10 forward from Seattle and potential No. 1 overall pick, Banchero is averaging a double-double over Duke's last four games with 18.8 points and 10.0 rebounds, while dishing out 4.8 assists and shooting 58.3 percent (28-of-48) from the field in that span. He leads all true freshmen nationally in scoring (17.9) and is fourth in rebounding (7.9)

In addition, the Blue Devils do a great job of protecting the rim. Duke leads the ACC and is 13th nationally in blocked shots per game (5.7). Sophomore Mark Williams leads the conference and is eighth nationally, with 3.26 blocks per game.

Why the Cardinals can cover

Louisville's Jarrod West is playing extremely well. A graduate transfer from Marshall, West has scored a season-high 14 points in each of the last two games while making 8-of-11 3-pointers (72.7 percent). West ranks third in the nation in career steals (283) among active players and ranks third in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.42).
 
West is part of a deep bench for the Cardinals. Louisville has averaged 28.4 points per game from its bench this season. On Monday the bench contributed 30 points at Virginia, Louisville's 10th game this season with 30 or more bench points. The Cardinals are 19th in the nation in bench minutes (41.2 percent).

How to make Duke vs. Louisville picks

The model is leaning over on the total, predicting a combined 145 points, and it has also generated an against-the-spread pick that cashes in almost 60 percent of simulations. You can get the model's Duke vs. Louisville pick only at SportsLine. 
 
So who wins Louisville vs. Duke? And which side of the spread hits in almost 60 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Duke vs. Louisville spread to jump on, all from the advanced model that has returned $2,800 on its college basketball picks the last five-plus years, and find out.