Cornell vs Yale Odds, Predictions & Picks for Ivy League Final

• The Yale Bulldogs are favored over the Cornell Big Red in the 2025 Ivy League title game
• Yale dominated the Ivy this year, going 13-1 in conference play, including two wins over Cornell
• See the Cornell vs Yale odds, picks, and predictions for Sunday’s championship game in Rhode Island

The Yale Bulldogs (21-7, 13-1 Ivy, 16-10-1 ATS) can cap off a sensational Ivy League season when they face the Cornell Big Red (18-10, 9-5 IVY, 17-10 ATS) at Paul Bailey Pizzitola Sports Center on the Brown campus at 12:00 pm ET on Sunday, March 16. The Cornell vs Yale odds list the Bulldogs as sizable favorites.

Cornell vs Yale Odds

Yale is a 5.5-point neutral-site favorite on Sunday morning and -228 on the moneyline. Cornell comes back as a +185 underdog to earn the Ivy’s autobid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

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The game total is sitting at 158.5 in Sunday’s college basketball odds. The two regular-season meetings between these teams both flew over that number. They combined for 191 points in their Feb. 8 meeting in Ithaca and 180 in their Feb. 21 game in New Haven.

Yale is exactly .500 O/U this season, going 13-13-1. Cornell, though, has been an excellent over bet, going 16-9-2 O/U (a 64% cover rate for over bettors).

Cornell vs Yale KenPom Ratings

Both teams pair a rock-solid offense with a worse defense, but the difference is much starker on the Cornell side. The Big Red finished with the 62nd most-efficient offense at KenPom, but the 262nd most-efficient defense. That was one of the ninth-biggest discrepancy among the 364 DI teams this year. Yale’s defense rates a much-more-respectable 105th.

Cornell’s solid offense and abysmal defense were on full display in both regular-season meetings with the Bulldogs. The Big Red fell 103-88 at home in the first game and 92-88 on the road in the second.

Their offense has been absolutely electric of late, though, powering the Big Red to five straight wins, scoring 85 or more in each one and averaging 92.8 PPG in that span. Cornell’s current five-game win streak was immediately preceded by their narrow loss on the road at Yale, when the Big Red built a massive 15-point lead late in the first half and led by seven with under seven minutes to play.

Cornell vs Yale Prediction & Picks

The Ivy League has only had a conference tournament since 2017 and Yale has been in five of the six championship games since (none were held in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID). Over the last three seasons, they earned narrow victories over Princeton (66-64 in 2022) and Brown (62-61 in 2024) and lost to Princeton in 2023 (74-65).

They pulled off a fairly miraculous comeback against Brown last year, trailing by five with just 27 seconds left to play despite entering the game as 7.5-point favorites. Yale also put in a lackluster performance against Princeton in the semifinals last night, winning 59-57 as seven-point chalk.

Cornell, meanwhile, routed Dartmouth 87-71 as 5.5-point favorites, their sixth straight ATS victory.

For my money, this is a great spot to back the underdog at fairly long odds. Cornell has the scoring to keep up with Yale, and the Big Red have hit their stride at just the right time. Cornell’s offense isn’t reliant on just one or two guys, either. All five starters averaged between 10.5 and 14.7 PPG, and four of five shoot 39% or better from three. On any given night, it’s a matter of finding the hot hand.

Yale’s big two, James Poulakidas (19.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.2 APG) and Nick Townsend (15.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 3.6 APG), may have their way with the Cornell defense once again; Poulakidas has 32 in the road victory while Townsend had 24 in the home win. But I still like the value on the sharp-shooting Big Red at +185.

CORNELL vs YALE PICK: Cornell moneyline (+185)

Sascha Paruk’s 2024-25 NCAAM betting record: 51-38 (+9.07 units). All wagers 1 unit unless expressly stated otherwise.