March Madness betting: Coach K's Blue Devils have been awful at covering against UNC

Saint Peter's blessed March Madness fans with a historic run in the 2022 NCAA tournament, but its 69-49 Elite Eight elimination at the hands of North Carolina rewarded us with something even greater: the first-ever Big Dance matchup between Duke and UNC. The Blue Devils are 4.5-point favorites on BetMGM versus their bitter Tobacco Road rivals. Before you rush to bet on Mike Krzyzewski continuing his storybook final season, you may want to take a look at Coach K's ATS record against UNC over the past few decades.

Singing the blues

Since the 1993-94 season, Coach K's Blue Devils are 26-38-1 against the spread when playing North Carolina. Duke's covered in one of their last four matchups, most recently losing by 13 points in his final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Krzyzewski apologized to the crowd following the game, calling the performance "unacceptable." He'll get a shot at revenge on Saturday, but it won't be easy against a surging UNC team that's already pulled off two upsets in the tournament.

First-year coach Hubert Davis's Tar Heels are a perfect 4-0 against the spread in this year's edition of March Madness. They're +500 to win the national championship after opening the tournament at 125-to-1. This will be the third game as an underdog for North Carolina, which bounced Baylor and UCLA in earlier rounds. A different player has led the Heels in scoring in each of their four tournament games, and they'll need everyone pitching in if they want to beat a Duke team that's trotting out four first-round NBA draft picks.

Early bettors are wagering that the Tar Heels will cover against Coach K yet again. Sixty-eight percent of the spread handle and 66% of all moneyline bets are on UNC. If North Carolina can spoil two storybook endings in one season for the Blue Devils, Duke fans will never hear the end of it.

Stats provided by Sports Reference and teamrankings.com.