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Penn St. vs. Illinois Free Pick

Another huge Big 10 sports betting battle takes place this evening when the Penn State Nittany Lions invade Champagne, IL to battle the Illini…

Big 10 Sports Betting Battle – Penn State vs. Illinois

Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Illinois Fighting Illini 7:00 ET B10 Network

Another huge Big 10 sports betting battle takes place this evening when Head Coach Ed DeChellis and his Penn State Nittany Lions (18-8, 11-7-1 ATS) invade Champagne, IL to do battle with Head Coach Bruce Weber’s 16th ranked Fighting Illini (21-5, 13-8-1 ATS).These conference rivals have played in a number of closely contested contests with the average margin of victory coming in at a paltry three points per game the last four meetings. PSU is 5-5 SU & 6-4 ATS in its 10 road/neutral court games this season, and they’ve posted 7-6 SU & 7-5-1 ATS marks in Big 10 play. While the Illini have only dropped one game at home this season (13-1 SU), they’ve juiced out for their betting backers by earning a 4-4-1 ATS mark. They’ve also been average for CBB bettors in Big 10 play by posting 9-4 SU & 6-5-1 ATS marks.

The host Illini currently sits as 9.5-point favorites according to the BetUS Sportsbook college basketball betting lines with the game ‘total’ set at 122. The Nittany Lions have won just three of their nine games when installed an underdog this season, but they’ve managed a profitable mark ATS by going 5-4 ATS. Illinois is 15-0 SU & 9-5 ATS when installed as a favorite this year, but it’s a poor 1-4 ATS vs. teams with +.500 overall records.

The Nittany Lions put an end to their three game SU & ATS losing streak their last time out by upending the Minnesota Golden Gophers 68-63 as short 2.5-point home favorites. Sophomore guard Taylor Battle led all scorers with 21 points, and they connected on 11 of their 23 attempts from beyond the arc to pull out the home win and cover.

After winning a game they probably shouldn’t have at Northwestern, the Illini strolled into Bloomington and added another impressive road win and cover to their resume. Mike squared, as in Tisdale and Davis, led the Illini in scoring with 16 points apiece, and they outboarded the Hoosiers 35-23 to pick up their 21st win of the season.

Illinois holds a 21-9 advantage in its series with the Nittany Lions, and that mark includes a one-point win in last year’s Big 10 Tournament where they barely survived 64-63 as an eight-point neutral court favorite. PSU is 8-7 & 9-6 ATS against +.500 opponents this season, and they’re 7-5 SU & 6-5 ATS against solid defensive teams allowing less than 64 points per game. The road team and underdog has dominated this series of late. The road team is 5-2-1 ATS the L/8 meetings, and the underdog howled in each of the L/4 meetings.

Penn State has certainly played above prognosticators expectations at the beginning of the season, while Illinois has come out of nowhere with a breakthrough season of its own. HC Ed Dechellis just gets what Bruce Weber tries to do evidenced by the Nittany Lions success against the Illini in recent years. Even though Illinois has dominated its opposition at home this year, PSU won’t be intimidated as it’s gone into Champagne and knocked the Illini off in two of its L/3 visits. We’ll ride the Lions once again on the BetUS Sportsbook CBB betting odds and expect the same results.

Rose’s Recommendation: 3* Penn State (+9’)

By Cappers Picks

Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"