BY SHANE JACKSON | Home Field Sports Contributor

It all comes down to Saturday for the Pittsburgh men’s basketball program.

The Panthers (21-9) will travel to Miami (23-6) on Saturday with an ACC title on the line. Pitt is tied with Miami and Virginia atop the ACC standings, with all three teams sitting with a 14-5 conference record.

On some level, all three of these teams have been a surprise, as the North Carolina Tar Heels entered the year as the favorite to win the conference and were ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP poll. The Duke Blue Devils had the second-best odds to win the league after making it to the Final Four last season.

According to the preseason odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, Virginia had the third-best chance at 5/1 to win the ACC. The Hurricanes, who brought back plenty of talent from a team that made it to the Elite Eight last year, were listed at 15/1 to win the league. The Panthers have been the biggest surprise, as they entered the year with a 125/1 price tag to claim an ACC crown.

Pittsburgh will have to come through as underdog once again to clinch at least a share of its first-ever ACC title. Ken Pomeroy projects an 81-76 win for Miami in Saturday’s regular-season finale, which will take place at Watsco Center and begin at 6 p.m. ET.

The Panthers won the first meeting between these two teams back on Jan. 28, when they secured a 71-68 victory at home. That game closed as a pick ‘em, with a total of 150 that finished under by 11 points.

So far this season, the Panthers have thrived when they are counted out. They are 8-3-1 as an underdog and covering the number by an average of 3.6 points per game. They are 9-2 when playing away from home, covering the spread by an average of 7.7 points per contest.

Pittsburgh is actually tied for fourth among power conference squads with seven road wins. Pitt is 6-3 in ACC road contests, which is just one win shy of matching the program record for most ACC road victories.

With most analytical websites projecting this to be a five-point game, don’t be surprised when the initial betting lines are right in line with that. It could provide an opportunity to take the points with the Panthers, who have proven to have success in these situations.

In addition to playing for a league title, Pittsburgh is still fighting for the best NCAA Tournament seeding. According to BracketMatrix, the Panthers are listed as high as a No. 9 seed and as low as a No. 11 seed by most bracketologists.

With this much on the line, a spread bet on Pittsburgh at anything +4 or better would make sense ahead of Saturday’s much-anticipated showdown.

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