Who's Playing
Eastern Illinois @ No. 23 Illinois
What to Know
The #23 Illinois Fighting Illini and the Eastern Illinois Panthers will face off at 9 p.m. ET November 7th at State Farm Center to kick off their 2022 seasons. Illinois was 23-10 last season and made it as far as the second round of the NCAA tournament before being knocked out by the Houston Cougars 68-53. Meanwhile, coming off of an uninspired 5-26 last-season record, EIU has set their aspirations higher this year.
A pair of numbers to keep in mind before tip-off: The Fighting Illini ranked 24th worst with respect to takeaways last season, where the team accrued only 10.6 on average (bottom 93%). The Panthers experienced some struggles of their own as they were 351st worst when it came to turnovers per game last year, with the squad coming up with 16 on average (bottom 101%). So maybe these sore spots will just cancel each other out if things haven't changed too much in the offseason.
Illinois is the favorite in this one, with an expected 32-point (!) margin of victory. It would take nothing short of a miracle for EIU to pull off a win, but maybe they can at least keep Illinois from covering the spread.
How To Watch
- When: Monday at 9 p.m. ET
- Where: State Farm Center -- Champaign, Illinois
- TV: ESPN University
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Ticket Cost: $10.00
Odds
The Fighting Illini are a big 32-point favorite against the Panthers, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The line on this game has moved quite a bit since it opened, as it started out with the Fighting Illini as a 28.5-point favorite.
Over/Under: -110
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Series History
This is the first time these teams have played each other within the last seven years.
