Game Information
Saint Louis Billikens (1-0) vs Chicago State Cougars (0-1)
Time: 7pm CT Thursday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network Extra, ESPN+
DraftKings Odds
Spread: SLU -29.5
Total: 154.5
KenPom Projection
SLU 91, Chicago State 62
Billikens Back In Action
The Saint Louis University Billikens look to continue building momentum to start the season when they host the Chicago State Cougars tonight at Chaifetz Arena.
SLU began its season with a 92-67 rout of SEMO on Monday night, as the Billikens covered the spread and the game went over the total.
SLU Showing Scoring Depth
The Billikens were an under machine last season, but that may not be the case here in the 2025-2026 campaign. There is scoring depth up and down the roster, as SLU had five players score in double figures in the victory over SEMO.
One thing to keep an eye on tonight is turnovers. The Bills committed too many in the opener (15) and didn’t force enough (9), and that’s an area where they struggled last season as well.
Chicago State… Not Good
Chicago State’s season got off to a predictably rough start with a 92-62 blowout loss at DePaul this past Monday.
Chicago State is quite literally one of the worst teams in the country. KenPom has the Cougars ranked 362nd out of 365 teams in Division One.
My Lean
The biggest difference I saw in the Billikens’ opener as compared to last season is this year’s squad is extremely deep, and as they did against SEMO, they should be able to wear teams down in the second half, extend leads, and win by margin in many cases - in particular against inferior opponents like Chicago State.
If the Billikens have any hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, they need to run it up against bad teams like this and win in impressive fashion because that will help them in the metrics.
Chicago State just lost by 30 to a DePaul team that is ranked 78th in KenPom. SLU is currently ranked higher at 64th, so I expect to see a margin of at least 30 tonight.
Lean: SLU -29.5 at -105 on DraftKings
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. Get Eric's picks for all sports by following him in the Action Network app with the username "esontag". Disclaimer