The No. 14 Illinois Fighting Illini take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at 9 p.m. ET on Monday night at the State Farm Center. After losing consecutive games against Marquette and Cincinnati, Illinois has back-to-back wins against Kansas State and Texas-Rio Grande Valley. Meanwhile, the Fighting Irish didn’t play too well at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational last week, and suffered two losses in which they shot under 40 percent from the field.
Illinois is favored by four points in the latest Illinois vs. Notre Dame odds from Caesars Sportsbook, and the over-under is set at 138.5. Before entering any Notre Dame vs. Illinois picks, you’ll want to see the college basketball predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. Over the past five-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated an impressive profit of almost $2,100 for $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks against the spread. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Illinois vs. Notre Dame. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several college basketball odds for Notre Dame vs. Illinois:
- Illinois vs. Notre Dame spread: Illinois -4
- Illinois vs. Notre Dame over-under: 138.5 points
Featured Game | Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
What you need to know about Illinois
In Friday’s win against the Vaqueros, Illinois center Kofi Cockburn took over and finished with 38 points (40 percent of the team’s total) along with 10 rebounds. The Illini also got a top performance from guard Alfonso Plummer, who finished with 30 points and hit 6 of his 11 3-point attempts. Plummer has only scored 30 points or more once in his college career, in his freshman season with Utah, when he score 35 in the Pac-12 conference tournament in 2019-20.
The Illini have been effective on offense, but are elite at creating second-chance opportunities, and average 14.8 offensive rebounds per game. Cockburn averages 2.3 per game, but guard Da’Monte Williams comes away with 2.2 as well. Williams isn’t much of a threat offensively, but is a strong defender (1.3 steals per game) and is the team’s second-best rebounder, with 7.2 per outing.
What you need to know about Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish have only won one game this season against a Division I opponent in which they have shot over 40 percent from the field. They failed to do so in both of their losses and in their season-opening win against Cal State Northridge. Guard Dane Goodwin and forward Paul Atkinson have bucked that trend to be the most productive players for Notre Dame this season, but they’ll need to be at the top of their game on Monday. Goodwin had 18 points and eight rebounds in Notre Dame’s last game against Texas A&M.
Removing Notre Dame’s 90-64 win against Division II Chaminade, The Irish have averaged 66 points on offense. Illinois has held its opponents to 64.5 per game this season, while scoring 74.3 itself. The Irish have also lagged a bit on defense and average just five steals per game, which is one of the lowest tallies in the country. Atkinson has done his part, however, and averages 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
How to make Illinois vs. Notre Dame picks
The model is leaning over on the total, and it’s also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in over 60 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
Who wins Illinois vs. Notre Dame? And which side of the spread is a must-back? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has crushed its college basketball picks.
