Navy vs Bucknell Prediction 3/9/25 College Basketball Picks

The Navy Midshipmen and the Bucknell Bison meet Sunday in Patriot League Tournament college basketball action from Sojka Pavilion. Here’s a Navy vs Bucknell prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Navy vs Bucknell pick. We will examine: 

The Navy Midshipmen’s recent form and player performance

The Bucknell Bison’s recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Navy Midshipmen

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Bucknell Bison

Recent betting trends in games played between Navy and Bucknell

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Navy vs Bucknell game

Navy Midshipmen Betting Preview

The Midshipmen opened the season on a pretty rough run, but to their credit, they’ve been playing much better since the middle of last month. Navy was only able to win five of their first 19 games, taking out Harvard, Washington College MD, Penn, American, and Lafayette. Wins over Boston U, Army and Lehigh came next, then losses to Bucknell, Boston U, and Lafayette. Since then it’s been a 6-1 run with a lone loss to Colgate. Otherwise, the wins have been over Lehigh, Army, Holy Cross, American U, Loyola MD, and Boston U. That gives the Midshipmen a 14-18 overall run through 32 games this year. 

In Thursday’s matchup versus Boston U, the Midshipmen posted a 32-26 edge in the first half. Navy bagged another 54 points from there, powering out the win at the end 86-78. Austin Benigni led the team with 30 points, six assists, four rebounds, and one steal. Donovan Draper added 16 points with seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals, while Aidan Kehoe had 14 points with nine boards and two blocks in 31 minutes of work during the win. 

Bucknell Bison Betting Preview

Over on the Bucknell side, they were looking rough as 2025 began but since then it’s been a much better run. The Bison opened on a 4-10 stretch through their first 14 outings, then beat Colgate, Lafayette, Holy Cross, and Navy in the next five. Bucknell would lose to Colgate, Boston U, and Army among wins over Loyola MD, Navy, and American U in the next six. Since then it’s been a string of wins over Boston U, Lafayette, Lehigh, Army, Loyola MD (twice,) and Holy Cross, giving the Bison an 18-14 record across 32 outings this year so far. 

Matched up against Loyola MD on Thursday, the Bison gave up a 39-36 halftime lead and needed overtime to power out the win 76-72 in the end. Leading the team in scoring with a double-double during the victory was Noah Williamson with 21 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Josh Bascoe added 20 points with eight boards and six assists, while Elvin Edmonds chipped in 12 points with three assists in the victory. 

Why the Bucknell Bison will win

• Bucknell has won each of its last 12 games against the Patriot League at Sojka Pavilion.
• Navy has lost 24 of its last 32 road games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Navy Midshipmen will win

• Navy has won each of its last four games against the Patriot League.

Navy vs Bucknell Prediction 

I’ll take a stab at Navy here. The Midshipmen are coming off a pretty solid all-around performance against a middling Boston U team, despite getting outmuscled on the boards 32-27. Navy shot a nice 51.9 percent from the field in that one and had just eight turnovers while scoring 27 points off 17 Terriers miscues. That gives Navy four straight wins with 81 or more points scored in three of them. 

The Midshipmen lost both games versus Bucknell this year, 73-69 on the road on January 18 and 85-75 at home on February 1. In that latest defeat Navy was blitzed in the first half 51-26 and didn’t have much chance at a comeback on 40.6 percent shooting and a 37-30 rebounding deficit. The Midshipmen obviously need a much better start in this installment, but if they can stay hot and maintain form the whole way I could see Navy powering one out here. It’s a bit of a dice roll, though.