Northern Iowa vs. Illinois-Chicago prediction: Why Northern Iowa is favored to win men’s college basketball matchup [12/17/2025]

Illinois-Chicago will take on the favored Northern Iowa in men’s college basketball action at Credit Union 1 Arena on Wednesday, commencing at 5:00 PM ET.

Based on updated simulations, Dimers’ advanced college basketball model predicts Northern Iowa as the most likely winner of the Northern Iowa vs. Illinois-Chicago game.

This article offers an expanded analysis of Wednesday’s matchup, including an expanded look at the predicted score, best bets and picks.

Northern Iowa vs. Illinois-Chicago prediction: Who will win and cover?

Using powerful machine learning and data analysis, we have simulated the result of Wednesday’s NCAA basketball game between Northern Iowa and Illinois-Chicago 10,000 times as part of our men’s college basketball predictions coverage.

Our leading predictive model gives Northern Iowa a 63% chance of defeating Illinois-Chicago. Our predicted final score has Northern Iowa winning 70-67.

According to our model, Illinois-Chicago (+5.5) has a 64% chance of covering the spread, while the over/under total of 133.5 points has a 55% chance of going over.

Northern Iowa vs. Illinois-Chicago odds

We have sourced the best men’s college basketball odds in America for this game, which are listed here:

Bet Type
Northern Iowa
Illinois-Chicago

Spread
-5.5 (-102)
+5.5 (-110)

Moneyline
-230
+195

Total
o133.5 (-105)
u133.5 (-108)

All odds are correct at the time of publication and are subject to change.

Northern Iowa vs. Illinois-Chicago picks and best bet

After matching our predictions against the best available odds, we can reveal our picks for each of the major markets. Plus, find our best bet for the game below: