The Dartmouth Big Green take on the Yale Bulldogs. Our college basketball odds series has our Dartmouth Yale prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Dartmouth Yale.

The Yale Bulldogs played Butler and Kentucky in early December, not only to get a paycheck from power-conference programs, but to hopefully gain meaningful lessons and information on how to play better once the Ivy League season began. The main reason why a program such as Yale takes on a program such as Kentucky is to get a true test and go up against bigger, stronger, more athletic players, so that Ivy League play will seem easier by comparison. Yale surely hoped that its loss to Kentucky a few weeks ago would make the Bulldogs that much more prepared for the grind of conference play, sharpening the team for the games which most directly affect Yale's NCAA Tournament chances.

It didn't work out that way.

Yale stumbled against Columbia in its Ivy League opener on December 31. The Bulldogs lost to the Lions, 62-60, shooting just 21 percent on 3-point shots. The performance and the outcome were both brutally disappointing for Yale, which will try to bounce back here in this game against the Dartmouth Big Green.

Here are the Dartmouth-Yale college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel:

College Basketball Odds: Dartmouth-Yale Odds

Dartmouth Big Green: +16.5 (-110)

Yale Bulldogs: -16.5 (-105)

Over: 129.5 (-110)

Under: 129.5 (-110)

How To Watch Dartmouth vs. Yale

TV: ESPN+

Stream: ESPN+

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET, p.m. PT

*Watch Dartmouth-Yale LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*

Why Dartmouth Could Cover The Spread

Yale might simply be overrated. The Bulldogs had just one loss a month ago. They picked up expected defeats against Butler and Kentucky, but let's keep in mind that neither Butler nor Kentucky have been particularly good this season. Yale did not come especially close to winning either game, losing by 10 twice. Losing to Kentucky by 10 is not alarming, but losing by 10 to Butler — for a team with Yale's perceived quality — might have been an indication that Yale was slightly overvalued. Butler no-showed against Providence, trailing the Friars 46-18 at halftime in a blowout defeat. Yale probably should have been able to push Butler a little harder than it did. Yale should have been able to get to the foul line more than it did versus Columbia. It also needed to shoot better at the foul line. It made only 10 of 18 shots from the charity stripe.

Maybe Yale just isn't that good. Missing 3-pointers is one thing, but missing free throws as well is more of a source of real concern.

Why Yale Could Cover The Spread

The Bulldogs are too good and too talented to continue playing mediocre basketball. Their game against Columbia was a horror show — under 39 percent from the field, only 21 percent on 3-pointers, only 56 percent at the free throw line. It's hard to shoot as poorly as Yale did from all three areas of the floor. That takes some real work. It's a statistical improbability for a Yale team which hammered Monmouth by 32 points in its previous game. We can look at that Columbia result as affirmation that road conference games — even in the Ivy League — are hard. Yale should expect to shrug off that poor showing and bounce back here at home against a Dartmouth team which has lost each of its last five games this season.

Final Dartmouth-Yale Prediction & Pick

Dartmouth is on a long losing skid. Yale is playing at home. The Bulldogs should have a field day here. They should win by at least 20.

Final Dartmouth-Yale Prediction & Pick: Yale -16.5