Northwestern vs. Michigan State prediction: Why Michigan State is favored to win men's college basketball matchup [1/8/2026]

Michigan State will take on Northwestern in men's college basketball action at Jack Breslin Students Events Center on Thursday, beginning at 6:30 PM ET.

Based on updated simulation results, Dimers' proven college basketball model predicts Michigan State as the most likely winner of the Northwestern vs. Michigan State game.

This article offers further insights into Thursday's matchup, including an expanded look at the predicted score, best bets and picks.

Northwestern vs. Michigan State prediction: Who will win and cover?

Using innovative machine learning and data, we have simulated the result of Thursday's NCAA basketball matchup between Northwestern and Michigan State 10,000 times as part of our men's college basketball predictions coverage.

Our famous predictive model currently gives Michigan State a 90% chance of defeating Northwestern. Our predicted final score has Michigan State winning 81-67.

According to our model, Michigan State (-13.5) has a 53% chance of covering the spread, while the over/under total of 143.5 points has a 56% chance of going over.

Northwestern vs. Michigan State odds

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

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

Northwestern vs. Michigan State picks and best bet

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