The Pittsburgh Panthers and the Penn State Nittany Lions will meet on Sunday night in Philadelphia for a non-conference game. The game will be played inside the historic Pelestra and makes for a nice meeting point between two teams with alumni in Philadelphia. Both teams are 2-0, but this matchup will be the first test, as neither team has played a power conference opponent yet. Pittsburgh easily won their first two games against Rider and Buffalo, while Penn State struggled in their last game against Chattanooga, beating the Mocs by just four points and giving up 93 points to an offense that will not be on the same level as Pitt.
I expect Pitt to cover the short spread in this matchup. They took care of business in their first two games while Penn State did not. Penn State is projected to be one of the worst teams in all of power five and should struggle against other high major opponents. Pittsburgh is not a projected tournament team, but their offense should still have their way against Penn State’s defense that did not look good in their last game. According to KenPom, Penn State’s defense ranks #138 nationally through three games. They have not been able to protect the paint so far this year, and I expect Pitt to exploit that. Take the Panthers to cover here.
Pitt vs Penn State prediction: Pitt Panthers -2.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to -3.
