Princeton vs Akron Prediction 11/8/2025 Today’s College Basketball Picks

The Princeton Tigers and the Akron Zips meet Saturday in college basketball action from James A Rhodes Arena. Here’s a Princeton vs Akron prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Princeton vs Akron pick. We will examine the recent form and player performances for both teams, as well as the recent betting trends and streaks pertaining to this matchup. We’ll tie it all together with a summary that produces a favorable betting outcome for this game.

Princeton Tigers Betting Preview

The Tigers failed to match the heights of the 2023-24 season last year, falling to a 19-11 overall record with an 8-6 run in the Ivy League. That would leave Princeton behind Yale, Cornell and Dartmouth in the standings for a fourth-place finish. The Tigers had a rocky end to the regular season, losing four of their final seven games (but winning three of their final five). In the Ivy League Tournament, Princeton fell in their first outing versus Yale on March 15, ending their season for good.

This year the Tigers lose their two best players from the 2024-25 run in Xavian Lee (the top scorer) and Caden Pierce (the 2023-24 Ivy League Player of the Year). Blake Peters is gone due to graduation as well, leaving Princeton without 52 percent of their scoring from last season. Leading the team among the returnees is Dalen Davis, who managed 9.2 PPG in his appearances—including 20 starts—last season. Jackson Hicke and Jacob Huggins are also back in the fold.

Akron Zips Betting Preview

Over on the Akron side, they had a nice run in the 2024-25 season, going 28-7 overall with an excellent 17-1 result in the Mid-American Conference games. That effort would put the Zips in first place by four games over Miami-Ohio for a regular-season championship. Akron rolled through the conference tournament with wins over Bowling Green, Toledo and Miami-Ohio for a bid to the national tournament. In that First Round game versus Arizona however, Akron took a blowout loss 93-65 to finish off their run.

This year Akron kicked off their campaign on Monday versus James Madison in a home matchup. The Zips were down 39-30 at the break after a slow start, but recovered on a 55-32 run from there for an 85-71 victory. Topping the scorers was Amani Lyles with 22 points and eight boards, while Shammah Scott added 17 points with two rebounds. Tavari Johnson chipped in with 14 points, three assists and two rebounds as well.

Princeton Tigers @ Akron Zips Betting Trends: November 8, 2025

Why the Akron Zips will win

• Akron has won each of its last 20 day games at James A. Rhodes Arena.
• Princeton has lost the first half in four of its last five games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Princeton Tigers will win

• Princeton has won 24 of its last 26 day games against non-Conference opponents.

Princeton vs Akron Prediction

I’m staying with Akron. The Zips had a slow start against James Madison in their opener but eventually cleaned things up in the second half. Akron ended up shooting 42.9 percent from the field with 32 percent (8-of-25) from outside and 23-of-29 (79.3 percent) from the line. The Zips held a 33-30 rebounding edge and dominated the paint points 36-24, which helped immensely. Ball control was on point as well; the Zips had just eight turnovers to the Dukes’ 17 in the game. It wasn’t the cleanest effort, but Akron showed their stuff in the second half and ended up with a double-digit win at home.

As for Princeton, they’ve got a fairly young roster this year. Of the 15 players, five of them are freshmen. That means there will be some growing pains and a bit of chemistry to find initially. The Tigers have some challenging non-conference games on the slate as well, so it may be a difficult year. It’s going to be tough for them to find a way to get into the Ivy League Tournament again this season, but there may be some more success down the road.

Andrew Jett's Pick: Akron Zips -11