Illinois Offense May Or May Not Lead To Victory, But It Will Shine

Illinois vs. Nebraska, 8:30 ET
 

I told everyone yesterday that I was going to get us back our money from the past two days of losses and that's precisely what we did. I was able to grab a win in both of the college basketball games that I played and I wouldn't say either of them was a major sweat. Even with the risky pick of taking the under in the game between Houston and West Virginia. Now I am trying to grab another win for you all with this game between Illinois and Nebraska. 

Illinois has had an interesting season, floating up and down the rankings. This isn't a team that you can consider the bet team in the nation, but it is one that with the right draw could make some noise in the Big 10 Tournament and the NCAA tournament. They are just 14-6 for the year and only 6-4 in conference play. They've also lost three of the past five games. They dropped two of their past three games at home, where they should have a bigger edge. The losses this season came against Alabama on a neutral court, then they dropped their first true road game against Northwestern. That's a loss that really shouldn't have happened. They hosted Tennessee in mid-December and fell to the team that was then ranked #1, losing the game by two points. After running off five straight wins, they dropped a game to USC by 10 points. They lost to Michigan State by two on the road, then fell to Maryland - one of the more underrated teams in the nation by 21 in Illinois. The point being, Illinois is not a consistent team, but they are certainly talented. 

Jan 22, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Juwan Gary (4) shoots the ball against Southern California Trojans guard Kevin Patton Jr. (8) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska's record isn't that much worse than Illinois but I do feel like there is a clear distinction of which team is more impressive. Coming into 2025, Nebraska was 11-2. Since the new year has started, they are just 1-6 having lost their past six games in a row. Four of those games have come on the road with losses against Iowa, Purdue, Maryland, and Wisconsin. The other two losses have been against Rutgers and USC. Not all of the losses were blowouts with half of them being within five points. The other half were losses of 10 or more. So they either keep it close or they get blown out. The other losses they've experienced this season were on the road against Michigan State when they fell by 37 points and to Saint Mary's on a neutral court when they fell by three. Inconsistent play seems to trouble them just as much as it is a trait of the Illinois squad this season. The first thing that I was curious about was if someone got injured or something, but that doesn't seem to be the case. They've just kind of stumbled. 

This is one of the better games on the docket for tonight, but I'm really not confident in either team winning it. I do think that Illinois is the better team, but their losses have been a bit unexplainable. Nebraska hasn't been amazing at home either, so I don't have a ton of faith in them. I think this is going to be a game that sees some good offense. The total is a bit high at 154.5, but I think that Illinois should put up at least 80-90 points. Nebraska has allowed 78 points or more to four of the past five opponents. I'm going to back the Illinois team total over tonight as they should be able to score easily against the Cornhuskers. 

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