Las Vegas drops opening line for Duke Sweet 16 matchup vs. Texas Tech

Believe it or not, the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 round is already set. Although it feels like March Madness just started, the tournament is moving quickly – and there are now only 16 teams remaining after the field initially began with 68.

Looking at the Sweet 16 field, which includes three No. 1 seeds with Gonzaga, Arizona and Kansas, two No. 2 seeds with Duke and Villanova and two No. 3 seeds with Texas Tech and Purdue, there are some exciting matchups set to take place on Thursday and Friday as the teams battle for spots in the Elite Eight.

Among the eight Sweet 16 games, one of them features No. 2 Duke vs. No. 3 Texas Tech on Thursday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco. While the Blue Devils defeated No. 15 Cal State Fullerton and No. 7 Michigan State to make the Sweet 16, the Red Raiders had to get by No. 14 Montana State and No. 11 Notre Dame to get to this point.

Blue Devils, Red Raiders projected to be a toss-up by Vegas

Coming into Thursday’s marquee NCAA Tournament matchup, Las Vegas has released its initial odds for the game – and the oddsmakers are predicting Duke and Texas Tech to be a toss-up. According to the Vegas Insider Consensus, the Red Raiders are slight one-point favorites over Duke and Mike Krzyzewski, with the over/under currently set at 136.5 total points.

Thursday’s game will mark just the second all-time meeting between Duke and Texas Tech and the first since since Dec. 20, 2018 – a 69-58 win for the Blue Devils in a neutral-site game at Madison Square Garden in New York. Duke was led by Zion Williamson’s 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Jarrett Culver scored 25 points for the Red Raiders.

The winner will face the No. 1 Gonzaga/No. 4 Arkansas winner in the Elite Eight this weekend.