The Purdue Boilermakers (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) and No. 20 Illinois Fighting Illini (7-2, 4-2) meet for a key Big Ten West battle Saturday in Champaign. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium is slated for noon ET (ESPN2). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Purdue vs. Illinois odds, and make our expert college football picks and predictions.
Purdue sits a game behind Illinois, along with 3 other Big Ten West teams (Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin) heading into this mid-November tussle. And the Boilermakers have lost to 2 of those squads (Iowa, Wisconsin) in their last 2 games. Purdue, a 3.5-point favorite at home, was trounced 24-3 by Iowa last Saturday.
Illinois, which is No. 21 in the College Football Playoff rankings, had a 6-game winning streak snapped by Michigan State last week. The Illini lost at home as 16.5-point favorites 23-15 despite outgaining the Spartans 441 yards to 294.
Rankings courtesy of the'AFCA Coaches Poll'powered by USA TODAY Sports.