Columbia Lions vs Cornell Big Red Prediction & Picks - 1/5/2026

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.

Our Columbia vs Cornell Pick

Game Snapshot

• Matchup: Columbia Lions @ Cornell Big Red
• Date & Time: Monday, January 5, 2026, 5:00 PM ET
• Venue: Newman Arena, Ithaca, New York
• Broadcast: ESPN+

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Key Storylines

• Columbia enters Ivy League play off an impressive 11-3 start and dominated its final nonconference game with a 106-51 win over Penn State Abington. Columbia ranks high nationally in defensive rebounds and overall rebounding margin. But their non-conference schedule was one of the weaker non-conference schedules in the country, according to KenPom, and they could regress here.
• Cornell comes in with momentum of its own after a 133-65 pounding of Alfred State, paced by Gioacchino Panzini’s 26 points. Cornell holds an undefeated 4-0 record at home going into conference play. The Big Red’s ability to shoot the three and operate in transition gives it a dangerous offense, which they will look to use to stay above .500 with a win tonight.
• Both of these teams have shot 50% or better from the field to start the season. It will be interesting to see if they can sustain that kind of offensive efficiency now that conference play is here and there are no more teams from lower divisions on their schedules.

Head-to-Head & Betting Trends

• Columbia leads the all-time series against Cornell by a margin of 131-111.
• Cornell has won nine straight meetings in this Ivy League rivalry.
• Cornell is 4-7 against the spread going into their conference opener.
• Columbia is 7-5 against the spread so far this season.
• Cornell is 8-3 to the over in the totals markets this year.
• The Lions have gone 7-5 to the over entering this matchup.

Columbia vs Cornell Model Projection

Score Projection: Columbia 80 – Cornell 85
Win Probability: Columbia 42%, Cornell 58%

Final Thoughts

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

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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