The Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Illinois Fighting Illini in Champaign, IL. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET on FS1.
Illinois is favored by 10.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -550. The total is set at 171.5 points.
Here are my Iowa vs. Illinois predictions and college basketball picks for February 25, 2025.
Iowa vs Illinois Prediction
My Pick: Illinois -10.5 | Over 171.5
My Iowa vs Illinois best bet is on the Illini spread and the over, with the best odds currently available at DraftKings. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Iowa vs Illinois Odds
| Iowa Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+10.5 -110 | 171.5 -112 / -108 | +410 |
| Illinois Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-10.5 -110 | 171.5 -112 / -108 | -550 |
- Iowa vs Illinois spread: Illinois -10.5
- Iowa vs Illinois over/under: 171.5 points
- Iowa vs Illinois moneyline: Illinois -550, Iowa +410
- Iowa vs Illinois best bet: Illinois -10.5 | Over 171.5
Spread
I think Illinois bounces back from three losses in a row.
Moneyline
There's no value on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I like this matchup to have points galore, as Iowa is terrible defensively and the loss of Owen Freeman has allowed the Hawkeyes to be better offensively.
My Pick: Illinois -10.5 | Over 171.5
Iowa vs Illinois College Basketball Betting Preview
Illinois is coming off three straight games against top-10 competition (Michigan State, Wisconsin, Duke), which resulted in three losses. The notable scoreline was the Illini losing by 43 to the Blue Devils on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, as they shot 2-of-26 from 3 in that game.
A bounce back against the Big Ten's worst defense — Iowa — sounds reasonable to us.
In fact, it's not just the worst defense — it's a terrible defense against 2-point field goal attempts, which means you can get easy buckets against the Hawkeyes, and perhaps score at will.
I don't think Iowa has rolled over, though. The Hawkeyes gave Oregon a fight, won at Rutgers and beat Washington in their most recent game. They're still in a battle to make the Big Ten Tournament, so this game still does matter to them.
However, we just don't think Illinois is as bad as the talk in the media. The Illini take so many 3s, and a lot of these players (Kylan Boswell, Ben Humrichous, Tre White) shot much better from deep last season.
That means some regression is likely coming at some point. Brad Underwood was getting hate for saying he wants his guys to keep shooting, but we have a hard time disagreeing with him.
There's still some injury and illness concerns here for Illinois, though, so we also like the over (maybe even a little more than the spread). Morez Johnson Jr. is a beast, and I think they do miss him and his physicality inside.
The last two games, against Duke and Wisconsin, Illinois overs have been easy, easy money, so we're going back to the well here, even with a high total.
Also, we know Owen Freeman (who's out for the season) is obviously a very important player — defensively, he has good rim protection value — but the Iowa offense looks a lot better without him. That certainly adds to the over, as well.
This is a get-right game for Illinois' offense and Iowa should put up its fair share of points, too.
