Youngstown State vs Pittsburgh Prediction 11/3/2025 Today’s College Basketball Picks

The Youngstown State Penguins and the Pittsburgh Panthers meet Monday in college basketball action from Petersen Events Center. Here’s a Youngstown vs Pittsburgh prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Youngstown vs Pittsburgh pick. We will examine:

The Youngstown State Penguins recent form and player performance

The Pittsburgh Panthers recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Youngstown State Penguins

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Pittsburgh Panthers

Recent betting trends in games played between Youngstown and Pittsburgh

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

Youngstown State Penguins Betting Preview

The Penguins didn’t have too bad of a season overall last year, though it did end in disappointment. Youngstown State posted a 21-13 overall record with a 13-7 run in the Horizon League matchups. The Penguins would finish behind Robert Morris, Cleveland State and Milwaukee with that effort. Youngstown State hit a 1-5 stretch early in the season and another rough 4-5 run in January/February but outside of that they were quite consistent. Following wins over Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State in the conference tournament however, the Penguins ultimately fell to Robert Morris in the Horizon League Tournament championship game.

This year Youngstown State will have plenty of turnover in head coach Ethan Faulker’s second year at the helm; just one starter out of five will return to the roster. Two big returnees are Jason Nelson and Cris Carroll, who join a now-healthy Imanuel Zorgvol on the floor. Unfortunately there will also be some big holes to fill. One big loss is Gabe Dynes, who finished second in the nation for blocked shots last season.

Pittsburgh Panthers Betting Preview

Over on the Pittsburgh side, they managed to stay above the .500 mark in the record books last season amid a crowded and very talented ACC—but it wasn’t by much. The Panthers went 17-15 overall with an 8-12 run in the Atlantic Coast games. That would put Pitt near the bottom of the standings, ahead of only Syracuse, California, NC State, Boston College and Miami. Technically they landed in a five-way tie for ninth place but finished last in that group via tiebreakers. In any case, after snapping a four-game losing streak with a regular-season finale win over Boston College, Pittsburgh lost a heartbreaker 55-54 to Notre Dame in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Tournament.

Similarly, Pittsburgh will have to replace four of their five starters this season. The Panthers do have head coach Jeff Capel back though; he’ll be in his eighth year with Pitt and 17th year overall. The rebuild wasn’t easy though, as the Panthers lost six of their top eight scorers from 2024-25—starters included. Jaland Lowe is chief among the departures. He left the program for the transfer portal following a season in which he led the team in scoring. All things considered, Pitt has just two players left on the roster who saw significant action last year.

Youngstown State Penguins @ Pittsburgh Panthers Betting Trends: November 3, 2025

Why the Pittsburgh Panthers will win

Pittsburgh has won each of its last 10 games against non-Conference opponents at Petersen Events Center.
Why the Youngstown State Penguins will win

Pittsburgh has lost four of its last five games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

Pittsburgh ranked 31st among Division 1 teams for turnovers per game last season (10.0).
Pittsburgh ranked 39th among Division 1 teams for turnover percentage last season (13.0%).
Youngstown State ranked T44th among Division 1 teams for opponent blocks per game last season (2.7).
Youngstown State ranked 47th among Division 1 teams for opponent three-point field goal attempts per game last season (19.9).

Youngstown vs Pittsburgh Prediction

I’m just going to stay with Pittsburgh. You could make a case either way here though, as both teams are coming off some pretty significant offseason rebuilds. The good news for the Panthers is that they’ve been able to put together a pretty decent roster on paper, led by retiring senior center Cameron Corhen. Dishon Jackson joins the team as a major contributor from Iowa State. He put up 8.5 PPG and 5.1 RPG last year, so Jackson should be able to make a difference right away. This season’s team will have to maintain form once the difficult ACC games start, as they went just 5-13 to finish off the 2024-25 campaign. That’s of course easier said than done, but Pitt may be able to mold themselves into a mid-level squad among a talented conference this season.