Duke vs Alabama Prediction, Preview & Odds: NCAA Tournament East Regional Final

Duke vs Alabama How To Watch

Date: Saturday, March 29
Venue: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Time: 8:49 pm ET
TV: TBS
Teams: (2) Alabama (28-8), (1) Duke (34-3)
Region: East 
NCAA Tournament Schedule, Predictions, Previews

Why Alabama Will Win

This is said as a positive. Alabama is shameless.

It doesn’t care if it screws up. It’ll come back down and keep shooting.

It doesn’t matter if if there are 13 ugly turnovers against BYU - with too many points coming off them early on. Mark Sears will answer by making a three and life will go on - he hit ten in the 113-88 win over the Cougars.

The better way to put it with Bama is that it’s like a defensive back with a short memory. Get beat for one play, forget it, next play, make it, move on.

This group has the size and quickness to handle all the Duke talent, it gets to the free throw line, it scores on the move, it gets points from the backups - Bama scores, then scores more, and then keeps scoring.

There’s one giant problem with that …

Why Duke Will Win

Duke doesn’t miss.

You want to get into a track meet, Alabama? Okay. Let’s rock.

The Blue Devils are eighth in the nation in shooting percentage, they. Hit 38% from three, and worst of all for the Tide, they’re great on the offensive boards.

Bama is fantastic at crashing the defensive glass - it got 27 rebounds on D against BYU - but Duke will win its share of battles to get a few second-chance points.

There might have been a blip in the second half against Arizona when Duke allowed a run, but there wasn't too much drama in the 100-93 win.

The Blue Devil offense is too efficient - it won’t give up any turnovers for Bama to convert into easy points.

The Blue Devil defense is fourth in the nation allowing teams to hit just 38% from the field, and …

Duke vs Alabama: Who Will Win?

I’ve built this up too much, so I’ll do it a little more.

In the 1990 NCAA Tournament, Loyola Marymount and its 1000 mph offense took down Michigan 148-115.

Please, Duke and Alabama. Make a push for that 263 point total.

No, of course this game won’t do that, but both offenses will go racing up and down the floor in the best show of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

In the Alabama vs BYU preview, the thought was that both teams could score in bunches, but the Tide is better at cranking up the scoring than the Cougars.

Duke has more variety, size, and talent to be just a wee bit better than Bama offensively, and a whole lot better defensively in key spots.

Duke vs Alabama Prediction, Betting Lines

Prediction: Duke 104, Alabama 97
Duke vs Alabama Betting Lines
BetMGM Line: COMING
DraftKings Line: COMING
FanDuel Line: COMING
ATS Confidence out of 5: COMING
Fiu Bluesky | CFN Bluesky | CFN X | CFN FB

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