The No. 22 Northwestern Wildcats (20-7, 11-5 Big Ten) and Illinois Fighting Illini (18-9, 9-7) resume their rivalry Thursday in Champaign. Tip-off at the State Farm Center is at 9 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Northwestern vs. Illinois odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Northwestern has won 5 straight games and 8 of its last 9. The Wildcats defeated Illinois 73-60 as 3.5-point home underdogs on Jan. 4 (finishing as a plus-8 in turnovers that game) and are looking for their 1st 2-game season sweep of the Illini since 1965-66.
After back-to-back road losses at Penn State and Indiana, the Fighting Illini returned home to beat Minnesota 78-69 on Monday, but did not cover as 13.5-point favorites. Illinois is 13-2 on its home floor. UI had won 8 in a row against NU until the Jan. 4 loss.