The 16th-seeded SIU Edwardsville Cougars will battle the top-seeded Houston Cougars in a Midwest Regional first-round matchup on Thursday afternoon. SIU Edwardsville (22-11), which is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance, finished second in the OVC with a 13-7 record. Houston (30-4), which is making its 26th tournament appearance, has reached the Sweet 16 in each of the last five tournaments. Houston forward J'Wan Roberts (ankle) is questionable.

Tipoff from Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan., is set for 2 p.m. ET. Houston is a 28.5-point favorite in the latest SIU Edwardsville vs. Houston odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 126.5.

Before making any SIU Edwardsville vs. Houston picks, check out the college basketball predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The model simulates every Division 1 college basketball game 10,000 times. It enters the 2025 NCAA Tournament on a 228-166 roll (+2025) on all top-rated college basketball picks dating back to 2023. This model has also produced brackets that have beaten over 91% of CBS Sports entries in four of the last six tournaments and nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds! Anyone following could have seen HUGE returns!

The model has simulated SIU Edwardsville vs. Houston 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over, and it also says one side of the spread is the better value!

So who wins SIU Edwardsville vs. Houston, and which side of the spread is the better value value? Join SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that is 228-166 (+2025) on top-rated college basketball pick and has nailed 24 double-digit upsets!