8* Take Pitt (#640)

Jeff Capel’s Panthers lost their season opener to St Francis PA by double digits at home.   Then they missed a bunch of free throws down the stretch and failed to cover against Drexel in their next contest.  Coming off a 6-14 season in ACC play, the markets flat out crashed on Pitt following those early season struggles.  All they’ve done since is win games and cover pointspreads, 6-1 SU, 6-1 ATS since; a significantly undervalued commodity at this stage of the campaign.

Jeff Capel was an assistant at Duke for seven years prior to taking the Pitt job.  He knows that program inside & out.  Capel’s quote: “They’re a little bit younger.  They don’t have a lot of experienced older guys…They just maybe right now haven’t been as dominant like some previous Duke teams have been.  When you’re there, you understand.  There’s a different type of pressure.  A lot of times, you’re not allowed to go slow.  You’re judged very, very differently (at Duke).”

Duke had three Top 10 NBA draft picks on their roster just two years ago.  That’s not the case for Coach K and company this year.  Only one of Duke’s top seven scorers is a junior or senior.  Yes, Duke still has talent, and yes, it looks like frosh stud Jalen Johnson will be able to suit up tonight.  But it’s not like the Blue Devils are playing great ball on the highway, coming off a loss as favorites at Virginia Tech last time out.  And it’s not like Duke has been priced appropriately in the betting markets – they’re riding a 1-7 ATS run into Tuesday Night.  Live home dog here!  Take Pittsburgh