CFB Picks: Illinois vs Wisconsin 10/9/21 College Football Picks, Predictions
Wisconsin Badgers (1-3) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (2-4)
October 9, 2021 3:30 pm EDT
The Line: Illinois Fighting Illini +8 ; Over/Under: 42.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Illinois Fighting Illini meet the Wisconsin Badgers and the Saturday in 2021 week 6 Big Ten college football action from Memorial Stadium Champaign. Wisconsin is coming off a game versus Michigan. In that one the Badgers lost by 21 points. As for Illinois, they played Charlotte last weekend. The Illini ended up snagging a 10-point victory. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Wisconsin played tough against Penn State in their opener, but ultimately fell 16-10. The Badgers would get into the win column in week two with a 34-7 result versus Eastern Michigan, but they lost big to Notre Dame in week three 41-13.
In their last outing versus Michigan, the Badgers hung around in the first half with a 13-10 deficit, but were outplayed in the second during a 38-17 loss. QB Graham Mertz logged 115 yards and a score, while Chimere Dike had two catches for 54 yards and a TD.
Over on the Illinois side, they came out of the gate this year with a 30-22 win over Nebraska. The Illini then hit the skids after that, losing to UTSA 37-30, Virginia 42-14, Maryland 20-17 and Purdue 13-9 over their next four outings.
Last weekend against Charlotte, Illinois turned a 14-10 halftime deficit into a 24-14 win with two third-quarter touchdowns. QB Brandon Peters finished on 10-of-19 passing for 78 yards and a TD, while Chase Brown rumbled for 257 yards and two scores on 26 carries.
The Badgers are 2-7 ATS in their last nine overall and 1-5 ATS in their last six on turf. Wisconsin is also 0-6 ATS in their last six conference games.
Meanwhile, the Illini are 4-1-1 ATS in their last six in October and 5-2 ATS in their last seven after a straight-up win. The under is 4-0 in Illinois’ last four overall.
PICK: I’m going to go with Wisconsin. The Badgers played Michigan tough early, but lost steam after halftime. Wisconsin gave up 365 total yards with 15 first downs and 4-of-5 on fourth-down tries, but the Wolverines are a tough team and no one was expecting the Badgers to do great things.
As for Illinois, they played with fire early in their win, but righted the ship after halftime—to their credit. That said, the Illini have been a very sketchy team so far this year, no matter who’s on the field with them. If Wisconsin can play a halfway-decent game I think they’ll be fine on a cover.
