Northern Iowa vs. St. John's odds, prediction: 2026 NCAA Tournament picks from proven model

The twelve-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers will battle the fifth-seeded St. John's Red Storm in a first-round matchup in the East regional of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night. Northern Iowa (23-12) won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament as the lowest seed in history, beating UIC 84-69 in the championship game. The Red Storm (28-6) won both the Big East regular-season title and the conference tournament. St. John's has the Big East Player of the Year, Zuby Ejiofor, who averages an impressive 16.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. Northern Iowa should come prepared; St. John's could be out to prove their seed is too low at No. 5. The Panthers have won their last five games, while the Red Storm have won 19 of their last 20 games. 

Tipoff from the Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl in San Diego, California, is set for 7:10 p.m. ET. This will be the first-ever matcup between the two schools. St John's is a 9.5-point favorite in the latest Northern Iowa vs St. John's odds from DraftKings Sportsbook, while the over/under for total points scored is 131.5. 

Before making any St. John's vs. Northern Iowa picks, check out the college basketball predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every college basketball game 10,000 times. It entered the 2026 NCAA Tournament on a sizzling 11-1 run on top-ranked over/under picks dating back to last year, and is on a 28-22 run on top-rated CBB side picks. Anyone following could have seen HUGE returns!

The model has simulated Northern Iowa vs St. John's 10,000 times and the results are in. The model is going Over on the total, and it also says one side of the spread hits more than 60% of the time!

So who wins Northern Iowa vs St. John's, and which side of the spread hits more than 60% of the time? Join SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has simulated this matchup 10,000 times!