Penn St Nittany Lions

The Nittany Lions lost every game they played in January 2026, eight of them, and still covered four. In February they won three times as underdogs, at +130, +675 and +410.

Eight straight in January

Penn State went into January 2026 with a winning record and came out of it 0-8. The moneyline lost exactly eight units that month. The spread told a different story: four covers in eight, every one of them as an underdog of 11.5 or more. They lost 74-72 to Michigan with 24.5 points in hand and 93-85 at Purdue with 22.5.

The February prices

Then came the three wins worth knowing about, all as underdogs: 77-75 over Minnesota at +130, 63-60 at Washington at +675, and 71-69 over Iowa at +410. Together they paid 12.15 units, and February finished 7.15 up on a 3-5 record.

Over all 32 priced games, one unit on the Nittany Lions to win lost 7.14. As underdogs they went 3-18 and lost 5.85.

Laying points

The favorites’ games were where the spread hurt. Penn State won nine of 11 as favorites and covered three of ten; only 41 teams covered less often when favored, and two matched them. The two worst defeats at a short price were 80-46 to Pittsburgh at a neutral site at -112 and 85-72 at home to Rutgers at -218, the first of two Rutgers wins inside three weeks.

Big Ten opponents

Four teams beat them twice: Michigan, the second time 110-69; Rutgers; Ohio State; and Northwestern, the second time in the Big Ten tournament. Penn State covered once each against Michigan and Ohio State, never against the other two.

The total

Eighteen overs, 14 unders, five of the overs in that losing January. Overall they covered 12 of 31, 38.7%, and went 2-9 away from home.

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