Southern Illinois vs Drake College Basketball Prediction, Odds, Picks, Best Bets for MVC Tournament

The No. 8 seed Southern Illinois Salukis (16-15, 10-10 MVC) are taking on the No. 9 seed Drake Bulldogs (12-19, 6-14 MVC) in the MVC tournament on Thursday at Enterprise Center, at 4:30 p.m. ET airing on ESPN+.

Before you place your bet on this matchup at FanDuel Sportsbook, here are the NCAA basketball odds and spreads you need to know.

Southern Illinois vs. Drake Game Info and Odds

• Game day: Thursday, March 5, 2026
• Game time: 4:30 p.m. ET
• TV channel: ESPN+
• Location: St. Louis, Missouri
• Arena: Enterprise Center

Southern Illinois vs. Drake Picks and Prediction

All college basketball win probability predictions and picks are according to numberFire.
Prediction: Southern Illinois win (68.2%)

Take a look at some betting trends and insights for Southern Illinois (-4.5) versus Drake on Thursday. The over/under has been set at 136.5 points for this game.

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Southern Illinois vs. Drake: ATS Betting Stats and Trends

• Southern Illinois has covered 16 times in 30 games with a spread this season.
• Drake has covered eight times in 29 matchups with a spread this season.
• When the spread is set as 4.5 or more this season, Southern Illinois (6-3) covers a higher percentage of those games when it is the favorite (66.7%) than Drake (5-6) does as the underdog (45.5%).
• The Salukis have done a better job covering the spread on the road (10-5-0) than they have in home games (5-8-0).
• The Bulldogs have been better against the spread away (3-8-0) than at home (3-12-0) this season.
• Southern Illinois has beaten the spread 11 times in 20 conference games.
• Drake has four wins against the spread in 20 MVC games this season.

Southern Illinois vs. Drake: Moneyline Betting Stats

• Southern Illinois has come away with 10 wins in the 15 contests it has been listed as the moneyline favorite in this season.
• The Salukis have a win-loss record of 8-1 when favored by -250 or better by sportsbooks this year.
• Drake has won five of the 17 games it was the underdog on the moneyline this season (29.4%).
• The Bulldogs are 2-6 (winning just 25% of their games) when playing as a moneyline underdog of +202 or longer.
• Sportsbooks have implied with the moneyline set for this matchup that Southern Illinois has a 71.4% chance of pulling out a win.

Southern Illinois vs. Drake Head-to-Head Comparison

• Offensively, Southern Illinois was the 205th-ranked squad in the country (72.9 points per game) last year. Defensively, it was 251st (74.5 points allowed per game).
• Last year, Southern Illinois was 127th in college basketball in rebounds (32.9 per game) and 65th in rebounds allowed (29.4).
• Southern Illinois was 124th in the country in assists (14.2 per game) last season.
• With 12 turnovers committed per game and 10.1 turnovers forced last year, Southern Illinois was 259th and 297th in the nation, respectively.
• Drake sported a top-25 defense last season, ranking second-best in college basketball with 58.9 points allowed per game. Offensively, it ranked 285th with 69.8 points scored per contest.
• Drake struggled in terms of rebounding last year, ranking 25th-worst in the nation with 28.7 boards per game. Conversely, it ranked best in college basketball by allowing just 22.3 boards per contest.
• Last season Drake ranked 184th in college basketball in assists, averaging 13.5 per game.
• Drake committed 9.5 turnovers per game (35th-ranked in college basketball) this year, while forcing 12.9 turnovers per contest (53rd-ranked).

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