Penn State at Clemson is a tough pick

Penn State men’s basketball heads back south for its first true road game of the 2022-23 season when it faces Clemson on Tuesday evening. The game is part of this year’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge and the Nittany Lions could be in for a battle against the Tigers.

According to the gameday odds from BetMGM, Penn State and Clemson should be fairly even. Penn State comes into the game with a record of 6-1, with its only loss coming against another ACC school, Virginia Tech, in the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic two weekends ago. Clemson has lost two games in the early goings of the season, including one to the only Big Ten team it has faced this season, Iowa, in a close one in the Emerald Coast semifinal. Clemson’s two losses have come by a combined five points.

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The lines, courtesy of BetMGM.

• No point spread available
• Penn State money line: -110
• Clemson money line: -110
• Over/under: 134.5

There was no point spread made available for this game as of early Mondy morning, and the money line shows this to basically be a pick ’em game. Some other money lines found Monday morning lean slightly more in favor of Clemson at home, but this is clearly a matchup that is difficult to choose a flat-out favorite.

Clemson is 4-0 at home this season and the Tigers are averaging 72.1 points per game. Penn State’s only games played away from home this season came in the Charleston Classic, where the Nittany Lions went 2-1 to finish in third place in the tournament. The stats are also too similar to each other between the two teams in a variety of categories, making it difficult to give any clear edge between the two.

So expect a good contest Tuesday night at Clemson. This will be a good solid character test for the Nittany Lions against a good team with similar success early on this season, and it will be a good road challenge for the Nittany Lions.

Of course, history is not in Penn State’s favor against Clemson in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Penn State is 0-4 all-time against Clemson in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Will that trend continue or will Penn State return home with a solid non-conference victory in its pocket?

Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire.