The Ohio State Buckeyes (4-0 overall, 4-0 Big Ten) visit the Illinois Fighting Illini (2-3, 2-3) Saturday in a noon ET battle at Memorial Stadium. Below, we analyze the Ohio State-Illinois college football betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
The Buckeyes are ranked No. 3 in the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Ohio State at Illinois: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET.
- Money line: No line posted due to big spread
- Against the spread/ATS: Ohio State -28 (-110) | Illinois +28 (-110)
- Over/Under: 70.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Ohio State at Illinois: Three things to know
- Ohio State has struggled in efficiently closing out games this season. On Nov. 7, the Buckeyes led Rutgers 35-3 at halftime only to be outscored 24-14 in the second half. Last week against Indiana, the Hoosiers trailed 35-7 three minutes into the third quarter. OSU prevailed by a final of 42-35 after allowing a slew of big passing plays down the stretch.
- Illinois has won back-to-back games after starting the season 0-3. The Illini defense rallied after allowing a combined 117 points over the first three games. Illinois did, however, benefit from shaky opponent numbers on third down (8 of 26) and in the turnover department (plus-7) in the two wins since.
- The Buckeyes (233.3 rushing yards per game) and Illini (222.4) rank first and second, respectively, in Big Ten rushing. RB Master Teague, who rushed for a career-high 169 yards on 26 attempts vs. the Hoosiers, is Ohio State’s leading rusher this season (380 yards, 5.2 yards per carry). Illinois is led by the two-headed exploits of RB Chase Brown (357, 5.9) and RB Mike Epstein (338, 6.2).
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Ohio State at Illinois: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Ohio State 56, Illinois 17
Money line (ML)
No line posted as of this publishing
Against the spread (ATS)
Illinois is 0-5 ATS in its last five games following 40-point production in a preceding game. The Illini’s biggest strength on offense runs square into the Buckeyes’ strong point on the defensive side of the ball. So, look for Ohio State to build a lead and force Illinois into a pass-to-come-from-behind mode. A bounce-back game from Ohio State QB Justin Fields (3 picks last week) appears imminent. Back the BUCKEYES -28 (-110).
Over/Under (O/U)
The Over is:
- 12-6 in OSU’s last 18 games on the road
- 4-1 in the last five games in this series
- 4-0-1 in OSU’s last five games against losing teams
The OVER 70.5 (-110) is the lean, but a two-point upward surge (from 68.5 to 70.5) has certainly dented much of the value here.
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