Number shot up a few hours ago. I don't know which betting group is responsible. The big college moves have been succeeding this season so far so the books are nervous and on the defensive. Many spots took the Canes game off the board for a while while the number jumped, and then restored it once it appeared to settle at -7.
The books won huge on the NFL the first two weeks so they didn't care as much about losing the college decisions. But last weekend the bettors won big. That creates panic mode. I've been behind the counter in those situations. It's difficult not to laugh. The sportsbook manager goes nuts and it comes down from the guys above him, including sometimes from the casino owner. They want everything to be like slot machines, a steady grind.
I expected this number to be in the 4 to 5 range. That's what the power ratings suggested. On Monday morning there was money on Duke that drove the spot down to as low as -3.5 in some spots. Then today the upward jump. It could be a group setting up a middle opportunity by playing Duke later. But that's just a guess. Things like that do happen. The total also moved decisively. It opened in the 57 range and plowed up to 62 or 62.5. That looks like a legit move, a total that simple was too low to begin with. Most joints don't hang the college totals until Wednesday at the earliest because they are so volatile.
With the current spread of -7 and 62 total, the projection is Miami 34.5 to Duke 27.5