The Yale Bulldogs take on the Penn Quakers. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Yale Penn prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Yale Penn.
The college basketball season has been a tale of two halves in the Ivy League. In late December and early January, Yale and Penn were both struggling. They stumbled out of the gate in the conference and did not have a promising outlook in the battle for a top-four place in the standings.
Remember that in the new Ivy League Tournament format, the top four teams in the regular season meet in a playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. As long as an Ivy League team finishes in the top four, it gets a spot in the semifinals with a chance to play its way into the championship game for a spot in the field of 68.
Yale was 2-3 at one point in the Ivy League season but has won five in a row to move to 7-3, tied with Princeton for first place. Penn was 1-4 earlier this season, but the Quakers have reeled off five wins in a row to rise to 6-4, tied with Brown for third place. Both teams would be in the four-team Ivy League Tournament if the season ended today. Cornell and Dartmouth are both 5-5, one game behind Penn and Brown for the final spots. It is essentially a six-team chase: Six teams are vying for the four spots. Yale has a slight cushion while Penn has less of a margin for error. This is the backdrop to Friday’s game.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Yale-Penn College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: Yale-Penn Odds
Yale Bulldogs: -3.5 (-102)
Penn Quakers: +3.5 (-120)
Over: 143.5 (-110)
Under: 143.5 (-110)
How To Watch Yale vs. Penn
TV: ESPN News
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET, 4:00 p.m. PT
*Watch Yale-Penn LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Yale Could Cover the Spread
The Bulldogs were viewed by many as the favorite in the Ivy League before the conference season began several weeks ago. When Yale lost to Columbia and continued to struggle in the first five games of the Ivy League season, everyone wondered what the heck was going on. Since then, the Bulldogs have straightened things out. Their winning streak is a reflection of the team everyone expected to see. Each of the team’s last four wins were by 11 or more points. Yale’s excellence isn’t surprising; the surprise is that this team stumbled in the dark for several weeks before finally getting back to the winning formula it was always capable of displaying. Yale is a better and more talented team than Penn, and that should be reflected in how this game unfolds. Yale beat Penn by seven points earlier this season, albeit at home.
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College Basketball Odds: Penn vs. Cornell prediction, pick, how to watch – 1/6/2023
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College Basketball Odds: Dartmouth vs. Yale prediction, pick, how to watch – 1/6/2023
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Why Penn Could Cover the Spread
The Quakers can say that they, like Yale, have figured things out after a rough start. Penn’s beginning to Ivy League play was even rougher and more disruptive than Yale’s. Credit the Quakers for making the relevant adjustments here. Penn did lose to Yale earlier this season, but that game was at Yale in New Haven, Conn. If we assume that a neutral court is worth three points more than a road game, and that a home court is worth three points more than a neutral floor, that would mean if Penn plays Yale as tough as it did the last time these teams met, Penn would lose by one point, which means the Quakers would cover the spread.
Final Yale-Penn Prediction & Pick
Stay away from this game, given the volatility of Ivy League Basketball this season, but if you insist on a pick, lean to Penn at home.
Final Yale-Penn Prediction & Pick: Penn +3.5