The No. 1 seed Houston Cougars square off against the No. 16 seed Northern Kentucky Norse in a first-round contest on Thursday night at 9:20 p.m. ET. Houston is favored by 18 points at Caesars Sportsbook, while the over/under is set at 121.5 (see up-to-date odds for every game this week on our college basketball odds page). 

Before making any Northern Kentucky vs. Houston 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. The model enters conference tournament week 76-51 on all-top rated college basketball picks this season, returning nearly $1,200 for $100 players. Anybody who has followed it has seen HUGE returns.

The model knows Houston senior guard Marcus Sasser (questionable, groin) is an athletic and smooth shooting weapon in the backcourt. Sasser utilizes his range on the outside to stretch the floor and be a consistent shooter. The Texas native leads the team in points (17.1) with 3.2 assists per game. In the Mar. 10 win over East Carolina, Sasser finished with 30 points, five rebounds, and four 3-pointers.

The model also knows Northern Kentucky junior guard Marques Warrick is the main bucket-getter on the court. Warrick has the ability and skill set to get a score from anywhere. The Kentucky native is averaging a team-best 19.1 points with 2.7 assists per game. In his last outing against Cleveland State, Warrick totaled 18 points, six rebounds, and three steals.

Now, the model has set its sights on Northern Kentucky vs. Houston. It is leaning Over on the total and it also says one side of the spread hits almost 60% of the time! You ABSOLUTELY need to see it before locking in any college basketball picks.

So who wins Northern Kentucky vs. Houston? And which side of the spread hits almost 60% of the time? Join SportsLine now to find out, all from the model that has crushed its top-rated college basketball picks against the spread!