Tennessee vs Illinois Game Information

Tennessee vs Illinois Preview

New No. 1 Tennessee (9-0, 1-0 on Road) travel north to the Land of Lincoln to face Illinois (7-2, 6-0 at Home) in Champaign on Saturday afternoon for an SEC-Big Ten Conference showdown. The Volunteers have already defeated some quality programs in Louisville (77-55), No. 13 Baylor (77-62), Virginia (64-42), and Syracuse (96-70), and this will be another test with the Fighting Illini undefeated at Home at State Farm Arena. Illinois has lost 2 of its last 5, falling to Alabama (100-87) and Northwestern in its last game (70-66, OT), beating UMES (87-40), Little Rock (92-34, and Arkansas (90-77) in-between. DraftKings has Tennessee priced at 14/1 and Illinois at 55/1 to win the 2024 NCAA Basketball championship.

No. 1 Tennessee Confident Heading into Champaign

Tennessee (7-2-0 ATS, 4-5-0 O/U) has started off as one of the best ATS Teams in DI, and the Volunteers average 83.4 ppg (#45) while giving up 56.6 ppg, and with that +16.8 ppg Scoring Margin, Tennessee ranks No. 2 in the country behind Maryland. Tennessee also ranks No. 2 in the nation in Scoring Defense (56.6 ppg) behind No. 1 UCLA (55.1 ppg). This top-ranked squad is led by G Chaz Lanier (18.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg), F Igor Milicic Jr. (12.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg), G Zakai Zeigler (12.0 ppg, 7.9 apg), G Jordan Gainey (10,6 ppg, 3.1 rpg), F Felix Okpara (7.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg), F Cade Phillips (7.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg), and G Jahmal Mashack (6.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg) so Head Coach Rick Barnes has a great group and he will need it with six other Southeastern Conference (SEC) teams now ranked in the Top 25 with Auburn (#2), Kentucky (#5), Florida (#9), Texas A&M (#17), Ole Miss (#19), and Mississippi State (#25) all making the cut.

Tennessee Betting Trends

• Tennessee is 9-1 SU over its last 10 games overall 
• The Volunteers are 7-3-0 ATS their last 10 games
• Tennessee was 18-17-1 ATS last season
• The Under is 4-1 the last 4 Tennessee games
• The Volunteers are 19-3 SU in their last 22 games

Illinois Now Out of Top 25 with Loss to Purple Cats

Illinois (5-4-0 ATS, 4-5-0 O/U) saw star Terrance Shannon Jr. head to the NBA Draft (Minnesota Timberwolves), but the Fighting Illini (+128 Moneyline) still have a deep and skilled roster with C Tomislav Ivisic (16.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg), F Will Riley (15.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg), G Kasparas Jakucionis (14.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 6.1 apg), F Ben Humrichous (9.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg), G Kylan Boswell (9.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.4 apg), G Tre White (7.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg), G Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (6.4 ppg), and F Morez Johnson Jr. (5.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg). Heading in here, the Fighting Illini rank No. 16 in the Points Per Game (86.3 ppg), No. 3 in Scoring Margin (+23.8 ppg)—behind these Volunteers (-154 Moneyline) and Maryland—and are No. 1 in Rebounds Per Game (47.4) thanks in great part to Tomislav (7-foot-1), Jakucionis (6-foot-6), Johnson (6-foot-9), and White (6-foot-7).

Illinois Betting Trends

• Illinois is 0-2 ATS in its last 2 games (WIS, NW)
• The Fighting Illini are 7-3-0 SU their last 10 games
• The Under is 4-2 in Illinois last 6 Home games
• Illinois is has been Favorites in 8 of its last 9 games (Underdog vs ALA)
• The Fighting Illini are 325-340-20 ATS since 2003 (48.9%)

Tennessee vs Illinois Prediction

The last two times these two teams met was almost exactly a year ago (December 9, 2023) and in Knoxville, where the Rocky Top Rowdies were happy after seeing their Volunteers top the Fighting Illini, 86-79, pushing the Sides Point Spread (TENN -7) in a game that went Over the closing Total (145.5) by 19.5 points. Even though Illinois isn’t ranked (for now), this one is must-watch TV with this tall Road side and two teams ranked in the top 3 in Scoring Margin. Despite the Fighting Illini’s perfect Homecourt record, this Tennessee vs Illinois NCAAB pick will tab the Volunteers to stay undefeated and as strong as the SEC looked in the ACC-SEC Challenge (14-2), beating a Big Ten team 480 miles away shouldn’t be that big of a deal. We all need to come to grips with the SEC easily being the best sports conference with 7 teams in the Top 25 now in NCAA Basketball, 3 teams in the first-ever College Football Playoff (Georgia, Texas, Tennessee), and the last 5 College World Series winners—all different schools. Lord have mercy.

Kevin’s Pick: Tennessee -3.5