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A Big Ten battle is on tap between the Northwestern Wildcats and the No. 5 Illinois Fighting Illini at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday at the State Farm Center. The Fighting Illini are 14-5 overall and 9-2 at home, while Northwestern is 6-12 overall and 1-7 on the road. Illinois has been solid against the spread, going 12-7 ATS on the season. Northwestern is 8-9 ATS on the year. 

The Fighting Illini are favored by 12.5 points in the latest Illinois vs. Northwestern odds from William Hill Sportsbook, and the over-under is set at 143.5. Before making any Northwestern vs. Illinois picks, you'll want to see the college basketball predictions from the model at SportsLine.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. Over the past four-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated an impressive profit of over $2,200 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. Northwestern. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several college basketball odds for Northwestern vs. Illinois:

  • Illinois vs. Northwestern spread: Illinois -12.5
  • Illinois vs. Northwestern over-under: 144 points
  • Illinois vs. Northwestern money line: Illinois -900; Northwestern +600

What you need to know about Illinois

Illinois escaped with a 77-72 win in overtime against the Nebraska Cornhuskers this past Friday to extend its winning streak to five. Guard Ayo Dosunmu took over for Illinois, finishing with 31 points and six assists. The junior guard is averaging 21.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists.

Center Kofi Cockburn is one of the nation's top big men. He averages 17.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. He's hitting 67.9 percent of his shots from the field. The Illini have a top-25 scoring offense nationally, averaging 81.6 points. They knocked off Northwestern 81-56 on the road on Jan. 7 of this year, easily covering a 7.5-point spread. 

What you need to know about Northwestern

Meanwhile, Northwestern full 64-50 to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights this past Saturday. It marked the 11th consecutive loss for the Wildcats, who fell to 3-11 in conference play. Northwestern has played a brutal schedule recently as eight of those 11 losses came against a ranked team. 

Despite their inability to find the win column recently, the Wildcats have been able to keep many games competitive. Their last five losses have come by an average of just 6.6 points per game. Chase Audige leads Northwestern with 12.8 points per game. Forwards Miller Kopp (12.4 ppg) and Pete Nance (11.8 ppg) are also big parts of the offense. 

How to make Northwestern vs. Illinois picks

The model has simulated Illinois vs. Northwestern 10,000 times and the results are in. It is leaning over on the total, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in well over 50 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.

So who wins Illinois vs. Northwestern? And which side of the spread is hitting in well over 50 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has crushed its college basketball picks.