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The Yale Bulldogs take on the Penn Quakers. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Yale Penn prediction and pick. Find how to watch Yale Penn.
The Yale Bulldogs are in the catbird's seat. At 7-0 in Ivy League play, the Elis are in prime position to make the four-team Ivy League playoff at The Palestra in Philadelphia in March. The winner of that two-game playoff — semifinals and final — goes to the NCAA Tournament. While it's true that Yale has an enormous lead over the fourth-place teams in the conference (in the battle to clinch a top-four spot), it's not as though Yale will — or should be — satisfied by merely placing in the top four. There's real value for Yale in finishing first. Yale leads the league by one game over 6-1 Cornell, with Princeton in third place at 5-2. Those are the three best teams in the Ivy. There is a fourth-place tie involving 3-4 Harvard and 3-4 Columbia.
Yale, if it finishes first and not second, would likely face Harvard or Columbia in a possible Ivy League playoff semifinal game between the first and fourth seeds. On the other hand, if Yale does fall to second, it would probably have to play Princeton or Cornell, while one of those two teams (whichever one rises to the No. 1 seed position) gets to play Harvard or Columbia in the semifinals. If Yale wants the best possible path to the NCAA Tournament, it will definitely want to get the top seed and face a noticeably weaker opponent in the semifinals, which will make the championship game more manageable. This game is therefore very important for the Elis as they try to make their way into March Madness.
Here are the Yale-Penn College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Basketball Odds: Yale-Penn Odds
Yale Bulldogs: -5.5 (-118)
Penn Quakers: +5.5 (-104)
Over: 137.5 (-115)
Under: 137.5 (-105)
How To Watch Yale vs Penn
Time: 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 pm PT
TV: ESPN Plus
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Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Yale Could Cover the Spread
The logic behind picking Yale to cover the spread is not that complicated. Yale is 7-0 in league play, while Penn is 1-6. Yale has been consistently good over the past month and a half, while Penn has not. Yale beat Penn by 16 points a few weeks ago. It's not as though Penn has been uniquely or especially competitive in Ivy League play. The Quakers have lost some games by seven points, and they lost one game by only three, but they have lost multiple games by nine or more points and have dropped a few games by double-digit margins, including their loss to Yale. It's a good team against a not-very-good team, and the spread is just 5.5 points, a lot smaller than you might expect for two teams separated by six games in the conference standings. Yale won at home by 16. Even if you shift six or seven points to Penn due to having home-court advantage in this game, Yale should still win by nine or 10 points, which would be enough to cover the spread.
Why Penn Could Cover the Spread
The Quakers know they need to make a late-season push if they want to have any chance at the fourth spot in the Ivy League playoff. They have not been eliminated, but their margins are small. They are playing this game at home. They have already faced Yale and are therefore in a position to make adjustments. All these factors could work in their favor.
Final Yale-Penn Prediction & Pick
This is a good team against a bad team. Take Yale and don't overthink it.
Final Yale-Penn Prediction & Pick: Yale -5.5
