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The 9th seed Virginia Tech Hokies face the 8th seed Wisconsin Badgers in an East Region first round NCAA Tournament game that will take place at a neutral site at the KeyBank Center Buffalo, New York Thursday March 16th at 9:40 PM ET. The Badgers opened as a -4.5 favorite on the betting line for this match and have since climbed to -5.5. The total line for this game is on the board at 137 after originally being offered at 138.5 points.
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Virginia Tech is coming off a 74-68 loss to a ranked Florida State team in their last game where they covered the spread as an 8-point underdog. The total number of points scored in the game was 142, which was under the closing line of 158. The Hokies have covered the spread in four of their last five games, including their last two, and previous to the Florida State game the total had gone over in two in a row. Virginia Tech has lost two of their last three games.
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Wisconsin is coming off a 71-56 loss to Michigan in their last game where they failed to cover the spread as a 2-point favorite. The total number of points scored in the game was 127 so the game was a PICK with 127 the closing line. Previous to the Michigan game the Badgers had covered the spread in three in a row and in their last five games they have an over/under record of 1-3-1. Wisconsin had won three in a row before their loss to Michigan.
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Offensively, Virginia Tech is putting up 79.3 points per game on a 49% FG average, which ranks 9th in the nation. On the defensive side of the ball the Hokies are allowing 74.4 points per game on a 44.5% FG average.
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Wisconsin is putting up 72.4 points per game on a 45.2% FG average. On defense the Badgers are allowing 61.1 points per game, which ranks 7th in the nation, on a 41% FG average.
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These teams met in the 2008 season where Wisconsin beat Virginia Tech 74-72.
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Virginia Tech Hokies at Wisconsin Badgers Betting Trends<br />
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Virginia Tech is 4-1 against the spread in their last 5 games overall.
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The Hokies are 4-2 straight up in their last 6 games.
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Wisconsin is 4-8 against the spread in their last 12 games.
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The Badgers are 18-7 straight up in their last 25 games.
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Public Money Consensus<br />
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In this NCAAB matchup between Virginia Tech and Wisconsin have the public leaning slightly to the home Badgers minus the 5.5 points with just 51%. The over/under bettors are lay more on this game staying under the 138.5 points with almost 75% on board.
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