The IVY League semifinals kick off on Saturday, March 14 with Cornell vs. Yale at 11 a.m. ET.
These teams split the season series 1-1 and now get a playoff matchup in March Madness.
The Bulldogs are 3.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook. The game total is set at 165.5 points.
Here’s my prediction, preview and pick for Saturday’s Cornell vs. Yale matchup.
Cornell vs. Yale prediction, preview
The IVY League is typically a one-bid conference, so whoever wins the conference tournament will be the only team to advance to the Big Dance. That creates a lot of pressure for all four remaining teams.
The first of two semifinal games is between Cornell and Yale, the No. 4 and No. 1 seeds in the tournament. While Yale has a significantly better record, the Bulldogs are only favored by 3.5 points. Part of this could be due to the neutral site, but the season series is definitely factored in, too.
Yale lost just five games all season, three of which came in conference. One of those games was against Cornell on the road. The Big Red won 72-69 on Feb. 27. It’s the Bulldogs’ most recent loss and only loss since the start of February.
That level of momentum is great heading into the conference tournament. March Madness isn’t about the best teams winning. That’s rarely the case. The winner is often the team that gets hot at the right time. Yale fits this narrative, but so does Cornell.
The Big Red are on a three-game win streak that includes the win against Yale. The other two matchups were against Brown and Dartmouth, two weaker squads.
Cornell vs. Yale pick, best bet
Cornell won the last meeting between these two teams, but that’s an outlier for its year. The Big Red were a .500 team prior to their three-game win streak to end the season. The first time these teams played each other, Yale won 102-68. Yikes.
The third matchup should look more like the first one, with Yale dominating on its way to the championship.
