Nine teams are within two wins of each other from 3rd place to 11th in the Big Ten heading into Sunday’s Penn State at Nebraska betting matchup. The Nittany Lions (14-8) are one of those, and they are trending towards a victory after alternating wins and losses their last seven games and coming off an 80-60 defeat to Purdue on Wednesday.
Just like Penn State thinks this is a gettable game, so does Nebraska (10-13) considering PSU has only one road win this season. The only problem with that is the Cornhuskers have dropped six of their last seven, and those defeats have not been close. Nebraska is +4.5 for this meeting.
Why Penn State Can Cover -4.5
The Nittany Lions did not fare well against Purdue this week, losing by 20 points but at the same time there’s a huge difference between Nebraska and the #1 Boilermakers. Penn State has only lost consecutive games twice this season, so they’ve been good at avoiding losing streaks on the year.
Penn State is due for a victory after alternating W’s and L’s the last seven, and one of those wins over that span was a dominant 76-65 victory over these Cornhuskers on January 21st at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions are 10-2 ATS their last 12 following a SU loss.
Nebraska had no answer for Andrew Funk in the first meeting as he tied a season high with 23 points. Jalen Pickett went for 25 points in last week’s win over Michigan, and Seth Lundy has averaged 20 ppg the last two and the Cornhuskers rank 11th in the Big Ten in scoring defense.
Why Nebraska Can Cover +4.5 Points
There’s a point and a counterpoint for the ‘Huskers heading into the Penn State at Nebraska betting matchup. On one hand Nebraska is 7-3 at home this year with wins over Ohio State and Iowa while also taking Purdue to OT, while the Nittany Lions 1-5 on the road. On the flip side though the road team has won four of the previous five head to head meetings between these schools.
Four Cornhuskers scored in double figures in the first meeting with Penn State led by 20 from Derrick Walker. Nebraska hit just 6-2 three-pointers in that game, so maybe the shots will be falling a bit better back at home.
Nebraska does rank a bit better in defensive efficiency than Penn St. (53rd to 93rd), but the big question will be the Cornhuskers offense. 68% of the betting public likes PSU here, so the fact that Nebraska opened as just a +3 point underdog could also be a tell.
Free Penn State at Nebraska Betting Pick
The big worry about taking the Cornhuskers plus the points here is the fact that not only has Nebraska been losing lately, they’ve been falling big like the 16 point loss at Illinois, 19 at Maryland, 15 at home against Nebraska and the 11 point defeat at Penn State.
Ultimately Nebraska just cannot be trusted here, and the Nittany Lions have been getting some solid offensive production lately that should lead to covering the -4.5 number.
Free Pick: Penn State -4.5
