The Iowa State Cyclones (29-7) battle the Illinois Fighting Illini (28-8) in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament Thursday at TD Garden in Boston. Tip is set for 10:09 p.m. ET (TBS/truTV). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s'lines around the Illinois vs. Iowa State odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and best bets.
Illinois, the No. 3 seed in the East Region, throttled the 13th-seeded Morehead State Eagles 85-69 in the 1st round despite taking a 1-point lead into the half. Illinois covered as an 11-point favorite in its first game since winning the Big Ten Tournament. The Fighting Illini then took down the 11th-seeded Duquesne Dukes 89-63, again covering as double-digit (10-point) favorites. Illinois was 17-12-2 against the spread (ATS) in the regular season and is 4-1 ATS in the postseason.
No. 2 seed Iowa State is one of the hottest teams in the country. The Cyclones beat the 15th-seeded South Dakota State Jackrabbits 82-65 in the 1st round and took down the 7th-seeded Washington State Cougars 67-56 in the 2nd round. ISU covered the spreads in both games — as a 15.5-point and a 6.5-point favorite, respectively. The Cyclones won the Big 12 Tournament prior to the NCAA Tourney, beating a No. 1 seed (Houston) in the Big 12 Championship Game. They went 19-10-2 ATS in the regular season and 5-0 ATS in the postseason.
Iowa State is No. 4 and Illinois is No. 10 in the .