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

The 12-seed Northern Iowa Panthers will battle the 5-seed St. John's Red Storm in a first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament on Friday. 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 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.

Tipoff from the Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl in San Diego, California, is set for 7:10 p.m. ET. St John's is a 10.5-point favorite in the latest Northern Iowa vs St. John's odds from DraftKings Sportsbook, while the over/under for total points scored is 132.5. 

Before making any St. John's vs. Northern Iowa picks, you NEED to see 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 cashes well over 60% of the time!

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