The 10th-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions face No. 7 seed the Texas A&M Aggies in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa. Both teams lost in their conference championship games but come in on long runs of success. Penn State (22-13) suffered a tough 67-65 loss to Purdue in the Big Ten final, just its second loss in its past 10 games. The 17th-ranked Aggies (25-9) were blown out 82-63 by No. 4 Alabama in the SEC title game, but that was just their second setback in their past 12.

Tip-off is set for 9:55 p.m. ET at Wells Fargo Arena. The latest Penn State vs. Texas A&M odds from Caesars Sportsbook list the Aggies as 2.5-point favorites, and the over/under for total points scored is set at 136. (See up-to-date odds for every game this week on our college basketball odds page.)

Before making any Texas A&M vs. Penn State picks or NCAA Tournament predictions, 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 the 2023 NCAA Tournament 79-53 on all-top rated college basketball picks this season, returning nearly $1,300 for $100 players. Anybody who has followed the model has seen HUGE returns.

The model knows the Aggies will be eager to bounce back from a loss to one of the nation's best teams, and they beat the Crimson Tide 67-61 eight days earlier. A&M is 10-2 against the spread in its past 12, winning each one by at least five and losing the two. Wade Taylor IV leads the team with 16.5 points per game, and the Aggies rely on physicality on both ends. They allow 65.6 points per game and average four more rebounds than PSU.

The model also has considered that Penn State is a strong shooting team and hits almost 39% of its attempts from 3-point range, 11th-best in the nation. They average 10.4 made 3-pointers per game (fifth-most). Jalen Pickett scores a team-high 17.9 points per game, and Seth Lundy (14.4) and Andrew Funk (12.1) both shoot better than 40% from long range. Pickett also averages 7.3 rebounds, 6.7 assists and one steal per contest.

Now, the model has done a deep dive into the Penn State vs. Texas A&M matchup, and we can tell you the model is leaning Over on the point total. It also says one side of the spread is hitting in almost 70% of simulations! You ABSOLUTELY need to see the model before locking in any college basketball picks.

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