The No. 5 seed Houston Cougars (31-5) and the No. 1 seed Arizona Wildcats (33-3) will battle it out in a Sweet 16 matchup during the 2022 NCAA Tournament on Thursday night at 9:59 p.m. ET. Arizona is favored by 1.5 points at Caesars Sportsbook, while the Over-Under is set at 146.5 (see up-to-date odds for every game this week on our college basketball odds page). 

Before making any Houston vs. Arizona picks, you NEED to check out the college basketball predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. Over the past five-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated an impressive profit of over $1,300 for $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks against the spread. Anyone who has followed it has seen HUGE returns.

The model knows Arizona sophomore guard Bennedict Mathurin is leading the team with 17.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Mathurin is the No. 1 option for the Wildcats, scoring 20-plus in four of his last seven games. The native of Canada has great athleticism that allows him to explode to the basket. In his outing, Mathurin dropped a team-high 30 points, eight rebounds and four assists. 

The model also knows Houston senior guard Kyler Edwards is averaging a team-high 13.9 points with six rebounds per game. The Texas native has been playing good basketball on the offensive end lately, logging at least 15 points in three of his last four games. On Mar. 18 against UAB, Edwards had 25 points, seven rebounds, three assists and went 6-for-8 from beyond the arc. 

Now, it has set its sights on Houston vs. Arizona. We can tell you the model is leaning Over the total, and it also says one side of the spread hits in over 60 percent of simulations! You ABSOLUTELY need to see it before locking in any college basketball picks.

Who wins Houston vs. Arizona? And which side of the spread hits in over 60 percent of simulations? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of Houston vs. Arizona spread you should be all over Thursday, all from the model on a roll on college basketball picks!