The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles and the Illinois Fighting Illini meet Friday in college basketball action from State Farm Center. Here’s an Illinois vs Florida Gulf Coast prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Illinois vs Florida Gulf Coast pick.
Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Betting Preview
The Eagles had a pretty decent season overall last year and took a step forward from the 14-18 effort in 2023-24. Florida Gulf Coast ended up with a 19-15 overall record and a pretty clean 13-5 run in ASUN games. That would put the Eagles in third place among the conference standings, behind only Lipscomb and North Alabama. FGCU went into the conference tourney with a four-game win streak but fell in the opener outing versus Queens. Following a berth in the CBI, Florida Gulf Coast took out Army before falling to Cleveland State in game two.
This year Florida Gulf Coast had a pretty simple opener matchup to get loose for the season. The Eagles took on New College of Florida and went into the locker room with a 44-29 lead. After 52 more points from there the Eagles had a 96-60 blowout victory. Florida Gulf Coast’s leading scorer was Rahmir Barno with 14 points, four assists and three rebounds. Rory Stewart added 11 points with six rebounds, while Isaiah Malone (seven rebounds), George Washington (five rebounds) and Tristen Guillouette (eight rebounds) each scored 10 points in the win.
Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview
Over on the Illinois side, they had a pretty wild year in 2024-25 and didn’t quite reach the heights of the season before. The Illini ended up going 22-13 overall with a 12-8 run in the Big Ten. It wasn’t quite as thrilling as their 29-9 run in 2023-24, but Illinois still finished in a fairly strong seventh position among a difficult conference. They were behind Michigan State, Maryland, Michigan, UCLA, Wisconsin and Purdue in the standings. The Illini went into the Big Ten Tournament on a three-game win streak and beat Iowa in the opener game. Illinois would lose to Maryland in game two, but got a berth in the NCAA Tournament all the same. The Illini beat Xavier in the First Round ahead of a Second Round loss to Kentucky on March 23.
Illinois didn’t have much trouble with Jackson State on Monday in their first game of the season. The Illini were up 60-27 by the half, then hit a 53-28 run from there in an eventual blowout win 113-55. Illinois’ top scorer in the blowout was Ben Humrichous with 21 points and five boards. David Mirkovic doubled up on 19 points with 14 rebounds, and Keaton Wagler added 18 points with six rebounds and four assists. Jake Davis chipped in 13 points, four rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes of work during the win as well.
Florida Gulf Coast Eagles @ Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Trends: November 7, 2025
Why the Illinois Fighting Illini will win
- Illinois has won 23 of its last 24 night games at State Farm Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Florida Gulf Coast has lost 10 of its last 11 games against AP-ranked opponents.
- Illinois has won the first half in each of its last eight night games against non-Conference opponents at State Farm Center.
Why the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles will win
- Illinois has lost each of its last three games at State Farm Center following a home win.
- Florida Gulf Coast has won six of its last eight games.
- Florida Gulf Coast has won the first half in five of its last six games.
Florida Gulf Coast vs Illinois Prediction
I might take a wild stab on Florida Gulf Coast here, but in reality I’m probably just staying away. The Eagles didn’t have much in the way of competition during their opener but looked good all the same. The shooting wasn’t red hot: 40.7 percent from the field, 23.3 percent from 3-point range (10-of-43) and 66.7 percent (16-of-24) from the line. Some of that can be chalked up to garbage time minutes by the bench, though. FGCU still held a nice 55-29 rebounding edge and committed just five turnovers. Taking on the Illini is going to be a completely different beast, but if the Eagles can get that shooting percentage up they might be able to cover.
As for Illinois, this should be another pretty easy game. The Illini dominated Jackson State 60-16 on the glass and shot very well (54.8 percent) in their opener win and I expect more of the same in game two.