ACC betting preview for Day 2 at the NCAA Tournament

Day 2 at the NCAA Tournament includes a pair of intriguing matchups featuring ACC programs.

Duke and Clemson will both make their first appearances in the tournament on Friday. It’s been a good weekend so far for the ACC, as North Carolina and NC State both earned comfortable victories in their first-round matchups on Thursday.

Here’s a look at the ACC’s slate for Day 2:

6 Clemson vs. 11 New Mexico | 3:10 p.m. ET | truTV | Memphis, Tennessee

Clemson enters this game as the higher seed, but the Tigers are underdogs to a talented New Mexico squad that won the Mountain West Tournament last week. The Tigers struggled a bit down the stretch, but made the Tournament comfortably thanks to a really impressive nonconference résumé. Clemson, who has lost 3 of its last 4, will be looking to regain some of its early-season form against the Lobos.

Spread: New Mexico -2.5 (via ESPN Bet)

Total: 151.5 points (via ESPN Bet)

4 Duke vs. 13 Vermont | 7:10 p.m. ET | CBS | Brooklyn, New York

Duke is a big favorite over the Catamounts in this matchup. The Blue Devils have a modern offense that features quality shooting all over the floor and also have a competitive defense anchored by Kyle Filipowski. The Catamounts have lost just once since the calendar flipped to 2024 and have an experienced roster that has been tested in the NCAA Tournament before. This is Vermont’s third consecutive trip to the Big Dance.

Spread: Duke -12.5 (via ESPN Bet)

Total: 132.5 points (via ESPN Bet)

2 picks

New Mexico -2.5 (via ESPN Bet)

The Mountain West’s performance in this Tournament so far is giving me pause, but I’m a big believer in the Lobos. They’re one of a handful of teams in the country who is ranked in the top-40 of KenPom’s offensive and defensive efficiency metrics. Clemson, on the other hand, has a defense ranked outside the top-60 and lost to lowly Boston College by 21 points in its last time out. I think New Mexico will be ready for this moment.

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Duke -12.5 (via ESPN Bet)

It’s not exactly clear to me why this Vermont team is a 13-seed. The Catamounts are not battle-tested — they’ve played 5 games against top-200 KenPom teams since New Year’s Day. They lost handily to the only top-60 KenPom teams they’ve faced all year (Bradley and Virginia Tech). Their NET strength-of-schedule ranks 285th nationally. I also see a team that is 19 for its last 67 (28%) from beyond the arc in its last 3 games. Vermont is heavily-dependent on the 3-pointer — it takes 44% of its shots from long range. However, the Catamounts only rank 200th in 3-point percentage (33.5%) for the full season and have been even worse in conference play (32.8%). On the other side, Duke had the ACC’s second-best 3-point defense in 2023-24. I think this is a great matchup for the Blue Devils — and one they should win going away.