Penn

I’m Not Liking Penn’s Chances After the Ethan Roberts and TJ Power Updates

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 19th, 2026 · 10:42 AM EDT

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Tell ya what, it’s not looking good for the Penn Quakers as they get set to play #3 Illinois on Thursday night:

Penn's TJ Power (illness) is questionable for Thursday's NCAA Tournament game against Illinois, per the NCAA Injury Report.

Averages 16.8 PPG and 7.9 RPG.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 19, 2026

BREAKING: Penn men's basketball's Ethan Roberts ruled out for NCAA tournament, TJ Power questionable with illness

Walker Carnathan for @DailyPennSports:https://t.co/zQmnCVQvOg

— Conor Smith (@conorfsmith) March 18, 2026

Roberts missed the Ivy League tournament with concussion symptoms and last played on March 6th against Brown. Power carried the Quakers in the conference tournament final, pouring in 44 points against Yale while grabbing 14 rebounds and hitting two clutch three pointers to send the game to overtime.

For what it’s worth, the line hasn’t moved very much this week. It opened at Illinois -24.5 and is now Illinois -25.5, so just a point, nothing crazy. The over/under opened at 150 and moved to 151, which can certainly be cleared with Illinois scoring 84.4 points per game and finishing this season 21st in Division 1. Penn scores 76.1 PPG on average while allowing 73.3 and they went OVER 151 in non-conference losses to Villanova and Providence.

Best case scenario is that there’s a bit of gamesmanship going on here. Fran McCaffery is being COY with the Power health update. He’s got some history with Illinois after many years coaching the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big 10. God willing, Power is totally healthy, and he comes out tonight and drops 50 on the Illini, and the Quakers do the UNTHINKABLE, and STUN the world with a big victory.

Remember, it’s your civic duty to bet on March Madness: