Dukies, Owls hook up Wednesday Night

The last time the Duke Blue Devils stepped out of ACC play things didn't work out too well, as the Dukies got buzzsawed by St. John's up in NYC. Wednesday night Duke, recently re-inserted as the top-ranked team in the land, takes another late-season break from conference play, this time hosting a team from the northeast in the 24th-ranked Temple Owls (7 pm Eastern, ESPN2).

Also among the more interesting games on Wednesday's college basketball betting slate at oddsmaker.ag the Michigan Wolverines, trying to track down an NCAA tournament bid, host the 12th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers (6:30 pm Eastern, BTN); the Colorado State Rams, also searching for an at-large invitation to the Big Dance, visit seventh-ranked BYU (8 pm Eastern, The Mountain); the Nebraska Cornhuskers, coming off their big win over Texas, host the Kansas State Wildcats (9 pm Eastern, ESPNU); the Maryland Terrapins, in the same bubble boat as CSU and Michigan, host the Florida State Seminoles (9 pm Eastern, ESPN3); and the Cincinnati Bearcats, trying to lock up an NCAA bid, visit the 11th-ranked Georgetown Hoyas (9 pm Eastern, ESPN3).

With the flurry of upsets of highly-ranked teams in recent days Duke jumped back into the top spot in the rankings this week. Since losing to St. John's at the end of last month the Dukies have won six straight by an average of 16 PPG. So the Blue Devils sit in first place in the ACC, and at 25-2 have a great shot at earning a top seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament.

Temple, meanwhile, has won eight games in a row to sneak into the top-25 rankings. And the Owls sit just a half-game behind first-place Xavier in the Atlantic 10 standings. Temple suffered non-con losses earlier this season to Cal, Texas A&M, and Villanova, but also owns victories over Maryland and Georgetown. And the Owls are 2-0 vs. the oddsmaker.ag pointspreads this season when dogged by five points or more.

Both these teams are sound defensively; both Duke and Temple are holding opponents to 40% shooting from the floor this season, and while the Blue Devils are allowing 64 PPG, the Owls are allowing just 61 PPG. And they've both had some success vs. the numbers this season, both going 15-11 ATS so far.

As of Tuesday morning oddsmaker.ag is listing Duke at +400 to win the national championship this season, with Temple getting +12,500 (125/1). Also on that board BYU and Georgetown are getting +2,000, Wisconsin +4,000, Kansas State +7,500, Florida State +15,000, Cincinnati +20,000, and Maryland and Michigan +25,000. And The Field,which includes teams like Colorado State and Nebraska, is being offered at +7,500.