College basketball takes center stage Monday night with a blockbuster showdown between No. 15 North Carolina and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, that tips at 7 p.m. ET. The Tar Heels are favored by 3.5 points, down a half-point from the opening line. The over-under, or total number of points that Vegas thinks will be scored, is 164, also down a half-point from the open.
With conference and NCAA Tournament positioning on the line and the odds already on the move, you need to hear what legendary Vegas oddsmaker Kenny White has to say.
White has made his name, and his living, setting lines for sporting events for some of the top sports books in the world. Now as an expert for SportsLine, White's picks crush those same books.
He was an astounding 51-33 on his college basketball picks last season, returning a profit of $1,463 on $100 bets. And he's heating up this season, especially when it comes to picking the Tar Heels.
Earlier this month, he told readers to lay 13.5 points and take North Carolina against Boston College, calling for the Tar Heels to "run BC out of the gym." The result: White absolutely nailed it as UNC routed Boston College 96-66, more than doubling that huge spread. That gave White his third straight cash for or against UNC. Anybody who has been following his picks is up big.
Now he has studied every angle of this ACC battle and his strong point-spread pick is in. He's sharing it over at SportsLine.
White knows that North Carolina, after an up-and-down start, has been one of the hottest teams in the nation recently, reeling off four straight conference victories, including wins over Clemson and Notre Dame.
The key for UNC has been an elite, top-30 scoring offense that is putting up nearly 83 points per game and a strong front court that averages 43.5 rebounds -- good for second in the nation. Forward Luke Maye (17.8 ppg, 10.5 rpg) has been a big part of both of those successes.
But just because UNC's offense is high-powered doesn't mean the Tar Heels will be able to go on the road and cover a 3.5-point spread against a tough Virginia Tech team fighting for its tournament life.
The Hokies have struggled recently, dropping back-to-back games, but they also can score in bunches, averaging 85.6 points. And they've scored at least 81 points in their past four conference games, so that number isn't too inflated from the nonconference schedule. They can score on just about anybody.
That offensive prowess combined with a raucous home-court crowd could easily lead to a tight showdown against a UNC team that is 150th nationally in scoring defense.
White has evaluated all of these circumstances and identified the biggest factor that will determine if you should back the Hokies or the Tar Heels.
So what side of UNC-Virginia Tech should you be all over? Visit SportsLine now to see White's strong against-the-spread pick for this ACC showdown, all from a Vegas legend who has been nailing his recent UNC picks.