Subscribe
Follow Us
It's time to continue our College Basketball odds series with an Illinois-Michigan prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Illinois-Michigan.
Sunday is a very big day — or should we say, a very “B1G” day — in college basketball. The Big Ten championship chase will take a few significant turns just before the finish line. Earlier on Sunday, Wisconsin goes up against Michigan State in East Lansing. Then, Ann Arbor will host the clash between visiting Illinois and homestanding Michigan. It's a CBS doubleheader in the state of Michigan, with a trophy and more at stake.
Illinois and coach Brad Underwood have dealt with injuries and illness for much of this college basketball season. Illinois has not had a lot of roster continuity due to players being hurt or sick. Many times, we can fault a coach for failing to put together the right lineups or rotations. This has been a year in which Illinois simply hasn't had a chance to put its best starting five on the court, healthy, with great regularity. It is what it is. The Illini will make the NCAA Tournament but won't get a high seed. They can only hope their roster will gain some health and maybe find a little more flow and rhythm heading into the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.
Opposing Illinois on Sunday afternoon is a Michigan team which just keeps winning close games. The Wolverines beat Nebraska by three on the road last Monday. Then they came back from a double-digit deficit to beat Rutgers on a buzzer-beating 35-foot shot on Thursday. Michigan's last nine wins — nine! — have all come by four points or fewer, a remarkable run of clutch play under pressure. Michigan and Michigan State are tied atop the Big Ten at 14-3. If one team wins on Sunday and one team loses, the Big Ten title race will take on different dimensions heading into the final two games of the conference regular season, which ends next weekend.
Here are the Illinois-Michigan College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Illinois-Michigan Odds
Illinois: +2.5 (-102)
Moneyline: +126
Michigan: -2.5 (-120)
Moneyline: -152
Over: 158.5 (-115)
Under: 158.5 (-105)
How to Watch Illinois vs Michigan
Time: 3:45 p.m. ET/12:45 p.m. PT
TV: CBS
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why Illinois Will Cover The Spread/Win
Michigan being a magnet for close games makes it easy to think the Wolverines will get roped into yet another tough and tight game. Given that Michigan was taken to the wire by Rutgers a few days ago at home, and given that Illinois is clearly a better team than Rutgers, it stands to reason that Illinois can go into Ann Arbor and win this game outright. Would anyone be shocked by this? Michigan has been a magician at escaping in close games. At some point, though, flirting with danger catches up with a team. At some point, playing an endless string of close games will cause the Wolverines to get burned. They will put their finger on a hot stove one too many times. That's the way to look at this game versus Illinois.
Why Michigan Will Cover The Spread/Win
Illinois is just so consistently inconsistent that it's hard to trust the Illini here. As for Michigan, while the incredible run of close-game good fortune is unlikely to be sustained, let's consider the point that Michigan might actually be ready for a breakout game in which everything goes well. Assuming Michigan will play another close game takes away the possibility that Michigan might actually grow in confidence from all these close wins and will raise its level of perfomance, thereby winning by 10 to 15 points. That's what we think will happen here.
Final Illinois-Michigan Prediction & Pick
Some might say that Michigan is due for a loss. We think Michigan is due to win a game by more than four points. Take Michigan.
Final Illinois-Michigan Prediction & Pick: Michigan -2.5
