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The Illinois Fighting Illini take on the Texas Longhorns in New York. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Illinois Texas prediction and pick.
The Texas Longhorns have started the season brilliantly under coach Chris Beard. They blitzed Gonzaga, but that was just one game. If the Longhorns could back that up with another win over another top-20 team, that would earn a lot more respect for a team which got a modest No. 6 seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament and frankly underachieved relative to preseason expectations.
Texas promptly secured that second big win by beating Big East contender Creighton last week. The Longhorns staved off a late Bluejay rally to remain unbeaten this season and enhance their portfolio of results. The Gonzaga game featured some good defense, but Texas shot the ball extremely well against the Zags. The offense set a standard Gonzaga could not match. Against Creighton, Texas's defense took center stage. Creighton made just 1 of its first 15 3-point shots. Texas prevented the Creighton offense from busting loose. Texas is showing that it can win distinctly different games with different playing styles. That is the mark of a team which can win in March. It's the kind of versatility and resourcefulness we haven't regularly seen from Texas basketball over the years.
Texas, under previous coaches Rick Barnes and Shaka Smart, fell into a trap created by bad shooting and long offensive droughts. This Texas team won't be immune to droughts — it didn't shoot 3-pointers well against Creighton — but it has given good answers to tough questions through the first month of the season. That bodes well for the road ahead.
Illinois defeated UCLA in November but lost to Virginia. The Illini crushed Syracuse this past week but then lost on the road at Maryland in its Big Ten Conference opener. The Illini have shown what they are capable of, but they also have not been relentlessly consistent. They have a few centerpiece players on their roster, guard Terrence Shannon from Texas Tech and fellow transfer Matthew Mayer from Baylor. However, they don't have their massive mountain of a man in the middle, Kofi Cockburn, who was a core part of the team's last two rosters, one of which got a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2021. The pieces on this roster are different, and coach Brad Underwood is learning how to find the combinations and patterns which work best. Illinois is definitely capable of beating Texas, but the Illini have not established the same level of continuity the Longhorns have found in the first month of the new campaign.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Illinois-Texas College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: Illinois-Texas Odds
Illinois Fighting Illini: +2.5 (-110)
Texas Longhorns: -2.5 (-110)
Over: 141.5 (-110)
Under: 141.5 (-110)
Why Illinois Could Cover the Spread
The Illini took down UCLA. They have shown even in the games they have lost that their defense will not collapse. They gave up 70 in their loss to Virginia and 71 in their loss to Maryland. As long as Illinois keeps playing good defense, the Illini are going to stay in games. Against Texas, which did not shoot well versus Creighton, Illinois can definitely create a contest which is close for all 40 minutes, from the opening tip until the final horn.
Why Texas Could Cover the Spread
The Longhorns have been a better, more consistent team than Illinois through the first month of the season. They have been more resourceful and adaptable. It's going to be hard for Illinois to handle them.
Final Illinois-Texas Prediction & Pick
Texas has earned the benefit of the doubt more than Illinois has. The Longhorns can win in different ways, and that's a good trait to have when considering a betting play on any game between any two teams.
Final Illinois-Texas Prediction & Pick: Texas -2.5
