Miami Hurricanes Basketball Opens As Heavy Favorites Against Bethune-Cookman

Miami Hurricanes basketball is looking to rebound off of two consecutive underwhelming seasons. Their win on opening night against the Jacksonville Dolphins was a great first step in making that happen.

The Hurricanes stay inside the Watsco Center for their second game of the season against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats from Daytona Beach, Florida. Despite the tough challenge they posed for No. 20 ranked Auburn in their first game, Las Vegas isn't giving the Wildcats a large chance to win.

The Hurricanes play Bethune-Cookman this Thursday night at 7:00pm Eastern on ACC Extra.

FanDuel makes Hurricanes heavy favorites

Not only does ESPN Analytics give Miami an 80.6% chance to win, but popular sportsbook FanDuel has published odds for this Thursday night's game. The sportsbook has the Hurricanes as -16.5 point favorites. This means the Hurricanes need to win Thursday's game by more than 16 points to cover the spread at -110. Betting $100 for the Hurricanes to cover the spread would win back about $190.

Vegas has set the total number of points for this game at 152.5. Betting on the Hurricanes to win outright wins you significantly less money because of how favored the Hurricanes are to win Thursday night. Betting $100 on Miami to win outright at -2500 would only win $104.

There have been many instances of odds predicting the wrong outcome and it leads to a select few people winning a large amount of money. Bethune-Cookman themselves proved Las Vegas very wrong recently.

Bethune-Cookman is not to be underestimated

If you think 16.5 is a lot of points to be favored by, it's because 16.5 points is a lot of points to be favored by. However, the Wildcats lost to No. 20 Auburn in overtime Monday night to start the season. The Tigers walked into the game against Bethune-Cookman Nov. 3 as 24.5-point favorites. Auburn was expected to pummel Bethune-Cookman, but instead squeaked out a nerve-wracking victory over the small school from Daytona Beach.

Bethune-Cookman is already defying odds and Hurricanes head coach Jai Lucas should do everything he can throughout practice this week to keep his players focused on what might seem like an easy matchup at home in Coral Gables.

As dominant of a victory Miami's 86 to 69 victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins was Monday night, the spread going into the game was 18.5 and Miami failed to cover it. Seniors Malik Reneau and Ernest Udeh Jr. will look to continue Miami's winning ways this Thursday night at 7:00pm on ACC Extra.

The Miami Hurricanes women's basketball team also plays Bethune-Cookman Thursday morning inside Watsco Center at 11:00am Eastern on ACC Extra.

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