Updated January 5, 2026
The Ivy League opens its conference slate with an intriguing matchup on Monday as the Columbia Lions travel to Newman Arena to take on the Cornell Big Red. Columbia has an 11-3 record and has built momentum through a strong non-conference season in which it enjoyed solid rebounding and defensive efficiency. Cornell is 7-6 and will rely on its offense to try to break down Columbia's defense. Here, I take a closer look at this contest in the Ivy League and give you my Columbia vs Cornell prediction.
Pick: | Cornell -2.5 |
Confidence: | 4/5 |
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Score Projection: Columbia 80 – Cornell 85
Win Probability: Columbia 42%, Cornell 58%
This should be a competitive matchup between two teams with very different identities. But I'm going to lay the points with Cornell as a slight favorite at home in this matchup. The Big Red have a very good offense. And while their defense has struggled a bit, those struggles have come against a much more difficult non-conference schedule. I'll take the Big Red to cover the number on Monday night.
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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