The Nebraska Cornhuskers and Illinois Fighting Illini kick off the Big Ten season with a Week 0 matchup at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill., Saturday. Kick off is set for 1 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Nebraska vs. Illinois odds and lines, and make our best college football picks, predictions and bets.
Nebraska enters year four under head coach Scott Frost, whose results both on the field (12-20 since 2018) and off (under NCAA investigation for “improper use of analysts and consultants”) have Cornhuskers faithful feeling uneasy.
Bret Bielema makes his return to the Big Ten as Illinois’ head coach, replacing Lovie Smith. Bielema had plenty of success at Wisconsin from 2006-2012, but this is a multi-year rebuild given the Fighting Illini went 17-39 during Smith’s five-year tenure, and 2-6 last season.
Illinois beat Nebraska handily last year, 41-23, though Nebraska won the previous two matchups in 2018 and 2019 under Frost.
Nebraska at Illinois odds, spread and lines
Odds via Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 10:15 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Nebraska -280 (bet $280 to win $100) | Illinois +220 (bet $100 to win $220)
- Against the spread/ATS: Nebraska -7.5 (+100) | Illinois +7.5 (-125)
- Total (Over/Under): 54.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Nebraska at Illinois odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Nebraska 31, Illinois 20
Money line
We can’t totally ignore Illinois’ upset of Nebraska in 2020, but QB Taylor Martinez didn’t start for Nebraska and these teams went in opposite directions after that game. Nebraska covered the spread in three of its last four games and won two, while Illinois lost its final three games by an average of over 20 points.
PASS on the money line and go for better odds on Nebraska against the spread.
Against the spread
Offseason transitions matter this early in the season. Bielema should be a solid long-term hire for Illinois, but molding an Illini team that finished 111th in scoring offense (20.1 points per game) and tied for 94th in scoring defense (34.9 PPG) into a contender won’t happen overnight.
Meanwhile, Nebraska’s offense shouldn’t skip a beat with Martinez back for his fourth season with a ton of returning production on defense. Take NEBRASKA -7.5 (+100) to avenge last year’s loss with relative ease.
Over/Under
Illinois might be able to run the ball effectively—it returns a number of pieces from last year’s top-35 rushing offense—as the Illini implement Bielema’s power-run, ball-control philosophy that should eat up some clock. Nebraska hit the Under in each of its last four games in 2020.
Take the UNDER 54.5 (-110) in what should be a slower-paced game as both teams work out the early kinks.
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