Illinois vs Southern Prediction 12/29/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Southern Jaguars and the Illinois Fighting Illini meet Monday in college basketball action from State Farm Center in Champaign. Here’s an Illinois vs Southern prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Illinois vs Southern pick.

Southern Jaguars Betting Preview

The Jaguars started out the year on a 2-4 run, taking losses to Arkansas, Marquette, Washington and San Jose State during those six outings. Southern would beat Northwestern State and Louisiana Christian in the next pair, but then lost to Texas, Texas State, Cal Baptist and Baylor in the next four outings. That gives the Jags a 4-8 record through their first 12 games this year.

In the Baylor matchup on December 21, the Jaguars entered the second half with a nine-point deficit. Southern didn’t end up getting any closer on a 71-36 second half and lost big 111-67. Michael Jacobs came up with a team-high 20 points, four assists and two boards. The only other team player in double-digits was Malek Abdelgowad with 19 points and six boards.

Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview

Over on the Illinois side, they logged a 6-1 run in their first seven games. The Illini took out Jackson State, Florida Gulf Coast, Texas Tech, Colgate, Long Island U and UT Rio Grande Valley in that time before a loss to UConn. The next four were a 3-1 run with a loss to Nebraska among wins over Tennessee, Ohio State and Missouri. That gives Illinois a 9-3 overall run this season.

In the Missouri matchup on December 22, the Illini were up 41-25 by the end of the half. Illinois didn’t let up from there on a 50-23 run and took the big victory 91-48. Leading scorer Keaton Wagler had 22 points with eight rebounds and four assists. Andrej Stojakovic had 16 points with three rebounds and two assists, while Tomislav Ivisic had 14 points with five rebounds.

Why the Illinois Fighting Illini will win

• Illinois has won each of its last 12 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Southern has lost each of its last 10 Monday games against non-Conference opponents.
• Illinois has won the first half in each of its last 12 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Southern Jaguars will win

• Southern has won each of its last 10 Monday day games.
• Illinois has lost four of its last five games when playing with a rest disadvantage.
• Southern has won the first half in seven of its last eight day games.

Illinois vs Southern Prediction

I’ll probably just stay with Illinois here. The Illini demolished a pretty good Missouri team in their last outing, holding the Tigers to just 28.6 percent shooting from the field. Illinois hit 51.7 percent themselves with 15-of-33 (45.5 percent) from outside and 16-of-20 (80 percent) from the line. The 41-20 rebounding edge and 20 team assists certainly didn’t hurt matters, either. Illinois has scored great over this 3-1 run, hitting 75 or more points in all four games and 80 or more in each of the last three.

As for Southern, they were no match for Baylor in their latest outing. The Jags shot a tepid 40.3 percent from the field with a 43-26 rebounding deficit in that one. The Bears hit 55.2 percent on the other side and had just four turnovers. Southern has lost four straight games now (giving up 75 or more points in each), and they’ve finished below 70 points in three of those defeats.