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Despite a lot of regular-season success recently, Illinois will be looking for its first deep March Madness run since 2005 when the No. 4 seed Fighting Illini start their 2022 NCAA Tournament on Friday. They'll face trendy Cinderella pick and No. 13 seed Chattanooga Mocs in the South Region. It's the third all-time meeting between the schools and, surprisingly, the Mocs won the first two.

Tipoff in Pittsburgh is set for 6:50 p.m. ET. The Fighting Illini are eight-point favorites in the latest Illinois vs. Chattanooga odds from Caesars Sportsbook. The over-under for total points is set at 136.5. Before making any Chattanooga vs. Illinois picks, be sure to check out the college basketball predictions and betting advice from SportsLine's proven computer model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. Over the past five-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated an impressive profit of almost $1,500 for $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks against the spread. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.

Now, the model has set its sights on Illinois vs. UTC and revealed its coveted picks and predictions for the NCAA Tournament 2022. You can head to SportsLine to see the picks. Here are several college basketball odds and trends for UTC vs. Illinois:

  • Illinois vs. Chattanooga spread: Illinois -8
  • Illinois vs. Chattanooga over-under: 136.5 points
  • Illinois vs. Chattanooga money line: Illinois -360, Chattanooga +285
  • ILL: Hasn't advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament since 2005
  • UTC: First NCAA Tournament for the Mocs since 2016

Why Illinois can cover

Illinois put together an impressive resume this season. The Illini beat NCAA Tournament squads Notre Dame, Rutgers, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Indiana. The Illini split the regular-season Big Ten crown with the Badgers, and they enter the NCAA Tournament with a 10-3 record in their last 13 games.

Kofi Cockburn is one of the best traditional big men in college basketball, with the 7-footer averaging 21.1 points and 10.6 rebounds. He feasted against mid-major competition this year, and his best outing came against UT-Rio Grande when scored 38 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Why Chattanooga can cover

Cockburn is a tough player for any team to match up with, but the Mocs might have some answers. Forward Silvio De Sousa is 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, and he brings some major-conference experience. The Kansas transfer appeared in 38 games for the Jayhawks before starting 25 games and averaging 11.1 points and 7.0 rebounds for the Mocs this year. He was huge in the win over Furman, scoring 17 points and grabbing 14 boards.

Even if the Mocs can't completely slow Illinois, they might be able to keep up offensively. Chattanooga has a top-100 scoring offense and it features a couple of high-scoring guards. Malachi Smith averages 20.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.7 steals. At 41.5 percent from 3-point range, he's the type of shooter who can get sizzling hot and propel a Cinderella run.

How to make Chattanooga vs. Illinois picks

SportsLine's model is leaning over on the point total, projecting the teams to combine for 145 points. The model also says one side of the spread hits over 50 percent of the time. You can only see the model's pick at SportsLine.

So who wins Illinois vs. Chattanooga? And which side of the spread hits over 50 percent of the time? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the model that has crushed its college basketball picks, and find out.