The No. 5 seed Saint Mary's Gaels begin their 2024 NCAA Tournament run on Friday against the No. 12 Grand Canyon Antelopes in a West Region first-round matchup. The Gaels (26-7) won the West Coast Conference's regular season and conference tournament titles, most recently defeating rival Gonzaga, 69-60 last Tuesday. The Antelopes also won their conference's regular season and conference tournament championships, defeating UT-Arlington in the WAC Tournament finale, 89-74 on Saturday night.

Tipoff is set for 10:05 p.m. ET from Spokane, Wash. The Gaels are 5.5-point favorites in the latest Saint Mary's vs. Grand Canyon odds via SportsLine consensus, while the over/under is 131.5 (see up-to-date odds for every game this week on our college basketball odds page). 

Before making any Grand Canyon vs. Saint Mary's picks, you need to check out the college basketball predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. It enters the 2024 NCAA tournament on a 148-106 roll on all top-rated college basketball picks dating back to last season, returning more than $1,700 for $100 players. It also has a strong 29-19 (+810) record on top-rated spread picks this season. Anyone following has seen HUGE returns!

Saint Mary's boasts the second best defense in college basketball, allowing only 58.7 points per game. They are led in scoring by guards Aidan Mahaney (13.9 points per game) and Augustus Marciulionis (12.4 PPG), who was named the WCC Player of the Year earlier this month.

The model has also considered that Grand Canyon ranks 44th nationally, scoring 79.8 points per contest. The Antelopes have the conference's player of the year, guard Tyon Grant-Foster, who averaged 19.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in 2023-24.

Now, the model has set its sights on Saint Mary's vs. Grand Canyon. We can tell you the model is leaning Over on the point total, and it also says one side of the spread hits over 60% of the time! You ABSOLUTELY need to see it before locking in any college basketball picks.

Who wins GCU vs. Saint Mary's, and which side of the spread hits over 60% of the time? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of the spread you should be all over, all from that's on a 29-19 roll on top-rated college basketball spread picks!