Big Ten: Northwestern/Penn St., Tip-Off 6:00 CT

With Cornell soiling themselves in the 2nd half of their game against Dartmouth last Friday, the FFP fell to a rousing 6-3. Looking to get back on the right track, there was an interesting situational play that stuck out to me. Let’s go to University Park, PA where the Penn State Nittany Lions will host the Northwestern Wildcats.

Both of these teams have underachieved for the most part this season. Northwestern’s NCAA Tournament dreams have been all but dashed by two, 4-game losing streaks in Conference Play (worth noting that one of these losses came from Penn S. The Wildcats have been playing much better of late, winning 4 of their L7 and going 4-2-1 ATS. Barring an incredible run in the Conference Tournament, Northwestern doesn’t have much to play for tonight. With that said, a strong finish to the season could grant them a potential NIT birth. Also, NU is currently a half game back in the B10 standings which could prove important during Tournament play.

Penn State’s first year Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry has done a fine job of squeezing the most he can out of this bunch, led by Siena Senior transfer Jalen Pickett (13 PPG). Similar to NU, PSU also needs a Cinderella like run to win the Conference Tourney and book a trip to the Big Dance. It’s Senior Night tonight, so I’m expecting to see a packed crowd to send these Seniors off in style. Both of these teams have similar KenPom and NET Rankings (PSU: 85, NU: 77).

Penn State has been playing its best ball of the year at home. The Nittany Lions are 8-0 ATS in their L8 home games, which is a stat you just cannot ignore. With the fantastic home record and the extra buzz surrounding the Bryce Jordan Center on Senior Night, I expect PSU to continue to take care of business at home and cover the short number over Northwestern. There’s been some buyback on Northwestern going from +2 to +1.5, so you can lay a cheap ML on PSU. FanDuel currently has PSU ML (-120).

THE PLAY: Penn State ML (-120)