Michigan vs Illinois 2/27/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan Wolverines meet Sunday in college basketball action from Crisler Center. Illinois is 19-8 on the year thus far. The Illini lost to Ohio State in their last game. As for Michigan, they’re 15-11 this season and beat Rutgers in their most recent outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Illinois was sitting at 13-5 in late January after a couple of losses to Purdue and Maryland. The Illini are 6-3 since then but just 2-3 in their last five. Those losses have come courtesy of Purdue, Rutgers and Ohio State. 

In the Ohio State game back on Thursday, the Illini had a one-point lead by halftime. Illinois was outscored 46-50 in the second half for an 86-83 loss, however. Alfonso Plummer was the lead scorer with 26 points, three rebounds and two assists. 

Over on the Michigan side, they’ve had a few good runs this year but haven’t been able to maintain form for long during the tough conference outings. The Wolverines are 2-1 in their last three though, with a loss to Wisconsin between wins over Iowa and Rutgers. 

Matched up against Rutgers on Wednesday, the Wolverines posted 32 points in the first half and 39 more in the second on the way to a 71-62 victory. Caleb Houstan was the leading scorer with 21 points, and Hunter Dickinson doubled on 16 points and 11 boards. 

The Wolverines are 0-4 ATS in their last four after an ATS win and 4-9 ATS in their last 13 after a straight-up win. The over is 13-6 in Michigan’s last 19 overall. 

Meanwhile, the Illini are 2-5 ATS in their last seven road games and 0-8 ATS in their last eight Sunday games. Illinois is 1-4 ATS in their last five overall. 

PICK: I’m going to take a stab on Michigan. This one’s something of a dice-roll game though; neither one of these teams has been all that reliable lately. In any case, the Wolverines have a few dud games lately but they’ve been able to stand tall against teams like Purdue and Iowa to nab some solid wins. Illinois has been all over the place during this 2-3 run; they’ve got a couple of bad losses mixed in there. 

The last time these teams met up back on January 14, Illinois pulled off a 68-53 victory. I think Michigan will be more comfortable in the familiar surroundings here and pull out a cover/win. Should be a fun game to watch regardless.