Valparaiso vs. Southern Illinois prediction: Southern Illinois favored to win men's college basketball matchup [1/1/2026]

Men's college basketball action continues on New Year's Day at 3:00 PM ET as Valparaiso looks to defy the odds against Southern Illinois in men's college basketball action at Banterra Center.

Based on updated simulation results, Dimers' advanced college basketball model projects Southern Illinois as the most likely winner of the Valparaiso vs. Southern Illinois game.

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

Valparaiso vs. Southern Illinois prediction: Who will win and cover?

Using innovative machine learning and statistical analysis, we have simulated the outcome of Thursday's NCAA basketball game between Valparaiso and Southern Illinois 10,000 times as part of our men's college basketball predictions coverage.

Our leading predictive model gives Southern Illinois a 79% chance of beating Valparaiso. Our predicted final score has Southern Illinois winning 78-70.

According to our model, the bookmakers have got it right, and Valparaiso and Southern Illinois each have a 50% chance of covering the spread, while the 146.5-point over/under has a 53% chance of going over.

Valparaiso vs. Southern Illinois 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.

Valparaiso vs. Southern Illinois 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: