Game Information
#23 Illinois Fighting Illini (3-1) vs #21 USC Trojans (4-0)
Time: 11am CT Saturday
How to watch: FOX
DraftKings Odds
Spread: USC -7
Total: 60.5
The #23 Illinois Fighting Illini are in the epitome of a bounceback spot when they host the #21 USC Trojans on Saturday in Champaign.
Illinois was absolutely embarrassed at Indiana last week, getting demolished by the Hoosiers 63-10.
Now the Illini return home to play in front of their home fans and take on an explosive, undefeated USC team. This line sat at USC -1.5 last week, but after the debacle in Bloomington, it shot up 5 points to 6.5 and has been bet up a little bit to the current number of 7.
Illinois is certainly on fraud alert, but I’m not ready to give up on this team. They have 16 starters back from last year’s squad that went 10-3, so I don’t think they forgot how to play football overnight. I think it was just a very, very bad night last weekend against an Indiana team that may be very good once again.
So I’m willing to give the Illini a mulligan until proven otherwise, so I lean for them to cover now that this spread has moved up to the key number of 7.
But I think the best bet for this game lies with the total.
The Trojans are putting up eye-popping offensive numbers, averaging over 52 points per game. But they have defensive issues, as evidenced by them allowing 31 points to Michigan State last week.
We know the Illini can score, as we saw them rack up 45 points against a decent opponent at Duke.
I think both teams are going to put up plenty of points here, and if I’m wrong and Illinois is indeed fraudulent, this game is probably going to go over anyway because USC would post a huge number in that scenario.
Pick: Over 60.5 at -115 on DraftKings (bet to 62)
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Wednesday night on the STL Sports Central YouTube channel. Follow him on X @GamblingDads, and click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Picks = betting the game - minus odds betting to win 1 unit, plus odds risking 1 unit. Leans = no strong opinion, not betting the game. Disclaimer