The Penn Quakers play Yale Bulldogs in the Ivy League Championship. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Yale is favored by 9.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -550. Meanwhile, Penn is the underdog at +9.5 with a moneyline of +400. The total is set at 142.5 points.
Here’s my Penn vs. Yale prediction and college basketball picks for March 15, 2026.
Penn vs Yale Prediction
My Pick: Yale -9.5
My Penn vs Yale best bet is on the Bulldogs to cover the spread. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Penn vs. Yale Odds
| Penn Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+9.5 -110 | 142.5 -110o / -110u | +400 |
| Yale Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-9.5 -110 | 142.5 -110o / -110u | -550 |
- Penn vs Yale spread: Yale -9.5
- Penn vs Yale over/under: 142.5 points
- Penn vs Yale moneyline: Penn +400, Yale -550
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Penn vs Yale College Basketball Betting Preview
The top-seeded Yale Bulldogs will face the third-seeded Penn Quakers for the Ivy League title and a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Bulldogs have been the Ivy’s best team and league favorite all season long, going 11-3 in league play and ranking more than 75 spots higher than their closest rival in KenPom.
Penn, on the other hand, has cobbled together an impressive season in Fran McCaffery’s first campaign, leading his alma mater after 15 years at Iowa.
The Quakers were just 2-4 after six games in the Ivy, but they won seven of eight to earn a trip to Ivy Madness. Penn needed overtime to squeak past Harvard in an ugly but exciting semifinal.
Yale won both meetings this season: a blowout at home and a narrow road victory at the Palestra.
This wades into dangerous territory, but I see Yale not just winning this game and covering, but running away from Penn.
The Quakers have a quicker turnaround from the semifinals and limp in with a busy injury report. Leading scorer Ethan Roberts won’t play due to a concussion suffered late in the season.
Freshman Jay Jones, nephew of opposing Yale coach James Jones (!), has seen his role grow throughout the season, but left the semifinal game after rolling his ankle.
If there’s hope for Penn, it comes by way of a hot shooting effort. The Quakers are a top-20 team in the country in 3-point percentage, yet Penn rarely takes advantage of its shooting. The high percentage is in part due to taking only the best looks from deep.
Penn is last in the Ivy in 3-point rate, which is odd given the Quakers rank 344th in the country in 2-point percentage. All of that is even more difficult without Roberts, as we saw against Harvard. Penn scored just 62 points in an overtime game on 0.89 points per possession.
That won’t fly against Yale, the best defense in the Ivy. Even if Penn gets hot, Yale is an even better shooting team, ranking third in the country in outside shooting at over 40% this season.
Penn saw Yale respond to a hot shooting game in the meeting in Philadelphia this season. The Quakers hit 10-of-19 from deep (53%), while Yale made just 23% from outside, and Penn still lost.
Yale is the better, healthier and fresher team. The Bulldogs are also the two-time reigning Ivy League champs. I trust James Jones and his squad to take care of business.
My Pick: Yale -9.5
