Two ACC teams will decide the region championship in the South Region when the 11-seed NC State Wolfpack face the 4-seed Duke Blue Devils in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center with tip-off scheduled for 5:05 PM ET on Sunday evening and will air on CBS.

The NC State Wolfpack were the lowest seed to advance to the Elite Eight this season as they entered the 2024 NCAA Tournament as an 11-seed and only made the tournament as the automatic qualifying team in the ACC by winning the conference tournament. 

However, NC State is one of the hottest teams in the tournament as they have won their previous eight games including having to win five straight games in the ACC Tournament just to make the NCAA Tournament. The Wolfpack controlled the majority of the game against the Marquette Golden Eagles in their Sweet 16 matchup on Friday as they started the game on a 20-10 run and led by 13 points at halftime with a score of 37-24 and would make a three-point shot to take a 40-24 lead after halftime, however, Marquette would cut the lead down to eight points thanks to a 7-0 run which started at the 8:53 mark in the 2^nd half. 

The NC State Wolfpack played the Duke Blue Devils twice this season and lost the first game at home by a score of 64-79 which was part of their four-game losing streak entering the ACC Tournament, however, they would eliminate the Duke Blue Devils in the conference tournament with a 74-69 win in the ACC Quarterfinals. This will be NC State’s 7^th trip to the Elite Eight with the most recent appearance coming in the 1986 NCAA tournament and resulting in a 67-75 loss against the Kansas Jayhawks. 

The Wolfpack will look to make their 3^rd trip to the Final Four and their first since the National Championship in the 1983 NCAA Tournament with a win against the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight.

The Duke Blue Devils have an extensive history of success in college basketball and will be playing in their 24^th Elite Eight which is the most appearances of any of the teams entering the Elite Eight and have compiled a record of 17-6 in the Elite Eight. 

The most recent appearance in the Elite Eight for the Blue Devils came in the 2022 NCAA Tournament which resulted in a win against the Arkansas Razorbacks by a score of 78-69. Duke pulled off the upset against the best defensive team in college basketball this season, the Houston Cougars, in their Sweet 16 matchup on Friday by a score of 51-51 which was their closest game in the 2024 NCAA Tournament and the only game they were an underdog as their first two games were decided by an average margin of 27.5 points per game. 

Duke lost in the ACC Tournament against the NC State Wolfpack and will be looking to avenge the loss and advance to their 18^th Final Four in school history when they face the NC State Wolfpack on Sunday evening.

BetNow has the Duke Blue Devils listed as 7-point favorites against the NC State Wolfpack in the Elite Eight on Sunday evening. The teams have an extensive history against each other as both play in the ACC with Duke having won six of the last ten meetings and the most recent meeting coming in the ACC Tournament which resulted in a win for the NC State Wolfpack by a score of 74-69. The Wolfpack have covered the spread in six of the last ten meetings and have covered the spread in two of their three tournament games this season while the Blue Devils have covered the spread in all three of their games.

NC State has been one of the hottest teams and is on an impressive run as they entered the ACC Tournament on a four-game losing streak and had no chance of receiving a bid in the 2024 NCAA Tournament without an automatic qualifying bid which meant they had to win five games in five days which they accomplished and included a win over the Duke Blue Devils in the ACC Quarterfinals by a score of 74-69. The Wolfpack have also covered the spread in six of the last ten games in the series against the Blue Devils which is why I am taking the points with the NC State Wolfpack when they face the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight on Sunday evening.