The will travel to Charlottesville on Saturday evening to play an ACC game against the Virginia Cavaliers. The game will tip off at 4:00pm Eastern Standard Time and can be seen on ESPN. This should be a great conference battle between two teams that have hit the 20-win mark on the season and two of the best programs in the conference over the last decade. North Carolina is a slight favorite despite being on the road and we like them to cover that short spread. The spread is currently set for North Carolina -2.5 and they are our best bet for this matchup.
The Tar Heels are 5-3 against the spread on the road this season and we expect that trend to continue in this one. North Carolina -2.5 is our expert prediction because we do not think Virginia will be able to score enough points to keep up. Virginia plays some of the slowest basketball in the country and have not been good on the offensive end. They are averaging just 64.1 points per game this year, which is ranked #344 in the nation. According to KenPom, their offense is ranked #163 in adjusted efficiency, #191 in effective field goal percentage and #276 in two-point percentage. The Cavaliers offense have held them back from being a good team this season and we expect that to happen again in this one. Take North Carolina on the road.
