The Cornell Big Red take on the Yale Bulldogs in the Ivy League Tournament final. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Yale is favored by 5.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -238. The total is set at 160.5 points.
Here’s my Cornell vs. Yale predictions and college basketball picks for March 16, 2025.
Cornell vs Yale Prediction
My Pick: Cornell ML (+190 or Better)
My Cornell vs Yale best bet is on the Big Red moneyline, with the best odds currently available at DraftKings. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Cornell vs Yale Odds
| Cornell Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+5.5 -110 | 160.5 -115o / -105u | +195 |
| Yale Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-5.5 -110 | 160.5 -115o / -105u | -238 |
- Cornell vs Yale spread: Yale -5.5
- Cornell vs Yale over/under: 160.5 points
- Cornell vs Yale moneyline: Yale -238, Cornell +195
- Cornell vs Yale best bet: Cornell ML (+190 or Better)
Spread
Yale is the better team, but Cornell's style of play gives it a real chance to play spoiler. I lean towards the Big Red +5.5 or better, but I prefer the value of the moneyline.
Moneyline
There's value on Cornell at nearly +200 or above.
Over/Under
It should be a high scoring game, as both previous meetings were. I have a lean towards the over.
My Pick: Cornell ML (+190 or Better)
Cornell vs Yale College Basketball Betting Preview
They say, “Styles make fights,” but the same is true of conference tournament title games.
Yale has been the class of the Ivy League all season long. After preseason projections pegged Princeton as the team to beat, the Bulldogs bulldozed the conference, losing just once during Ivy League play.
In theory, they’d make for an easy and obvious pick to win the Ivy Madness tournament. Yet if you were drawing up a team to give Yale a run for its money, it would be the Cornell Big Red.
Returning to the boxing metaphor, Cornell has a puncher’s chance with the ability to throw a haymaker any time it takes the court.
Cornell is one of the most analytically-focused college basketball programs in the nation, designed to rely on easy baskets at the rim or the lure of the 3-point bucket. This season, just 2.9% of Cornell’s field goal attempts have been classified as 2-point jumpers by Hoop-Math, third-fewest in college hoops.
Nearly half of the Big Red’s shots have been from long range (more than half if you count the 43 3s they hoisted in a win over a D-II opponent). When Cornell does venture inside the arc, it does so with eyes on an easy bucket, shooting 77% at the rim, a top-20 mark nationally.
In total, this leads Cornell to the best effective field percentage in college hoops. The Big Red topped 100 points four times this season.
That’s the haymaker that could wallop the heavyweights at Yale.
The reason for skepticism comes on the other end. Cornell’s defense isn't nearly as effective as its offense, having allowed 1.11 points per possession this year. In two games versus Yale, both losses, Cornell allowed the Bulldogs to average 97.5 points per game.
Yale is definitely the better team and should be able to score against Cornell, yet I can’t escape the idea that Cornell has a real chance here.
I’m intrigued by the spread, but more apt to roll the dice on Cornell at nearly 2-to-1 odds to steal a win.
