Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Illinois Fighting Illini: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/20/2023

Time: 9 p.m. ET

Venue: State Farm Center, Champaign, IL

Where to watch: BTN

DraftKings: Illinois -15

FanDuel: Illinois -14.5

BetMGM: Illinois -14.5

Caesars: Illinois -14.5

Minnesota: 7-17 (1-13 Big Ten)

Illinois: 17-9 (8-7 Big Ten)

February is here and the college basketball season is taking full shape. Conference races still to be determined, the top 25 completely in shambles for what seems like every week, and there's bound to be an upset what seems like every single week. But as the season continues to progress with what seems like exciting action every week, you know our champion handicappers continue to put the work in each and every week to not only make money for them, but to ensure you get money in your pocket. All you need to do is look at the last 30 days. Scott Rickenbach has reeled in a net profit of $14,000 with a 24-9-0 run on the college hardwood. Team Del Genio has killed it with a 13-1-0 run at +$11,900. Will Rogers (28-15-0) and Matt Fargo (40-27-0) have also seen five figures over the last 30 days with college basketball. Surely, you want to get on this winning as well. All you need to do is go to bigal.com, check out our Best Bets page and make sure you are following along on the action. March will be here before you know it! Take advantage of our best plays and find out what our champion handicappers are doing at bigal.com!

Is this the day that the Minnesota Golden Gophers finally find a way to get a win? Is this the day they crawl somewhat out of the Big Ten basement and show they’re likely capable of being somewhat alive and not just smacked around until they’re told to go back to bed? I’d argue probably not because that’s the way this season has gone for the Golden Gophers.

And as they prepare to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini, who have lost three of four and are in the middle of the pecking order in the Big Ten, the Gophers are not looking promising having lost nine in a row and seemed destined for last place in this conference that has a lot of mixture in the middle.

The Gophers are coming off a 76-69 loss to Penn State on Saturday, their first loss in a hot minute that wasn’t decided by double digits. You’d have to go back to Jan. 25, against the Indiana Hoosiers — yes, the same Hoosiers that are now in the top 25 — to find a time when they lost just by single digits. Games after that were decided by 20, 35, 25 and 12. Yeah, that’s not great, y’all.

Dawson Garcia had 23 points and seven rebounds while Pharrel Payne had 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. But no one had an answer for Penn State’s Jalen Pickett, who had a game-high 32 points to go with nine rebounds and eight assists for the Nittany Lions, who overcame Minnesota making 50 percent of its shots to win that game.

Minnesota is an abysmal 1-13 in conference play and just 7-17 this season. If you take out the conference play, they’d be 6-4. I think the Gophers would gladly take it from that standpoint, but man, this has been a rough year for teams in the conference that should normally be at the top. Ultimately, this conference is not filled with the most confidence. All you have to do is look at Purdue (Northwestern might be the best team in that conference right now).

Illinois is a pedestrian 8-7 in conference play and just 17-9 this season, nowhere close to being the top 25 team they were last year. Who else misses Kofi Cockburn? The greatest name in all of college basketball has gone on to greener pastures and is doing something we’re not even sure what he’s up to at this point.

But the Illini are coming off a 71-68 loss at Indiana. The Illini led the 14th-ranked Hoosiers at halftime, but ultimately fell short. Matthew Mayer led the way with 24 points and eight rebounds, but that was the only notable offensive contribution for a group that shot 39 percent from the floor. That and Illinois had zero answer for Trayce Jackson-Davis with his 26 points and 12 rebounds. 

The favorite is a whopping 27-9 in the last 36 meetings. If the over happens to hit, that favors Illinois because Minnesota surely isn’t going to have enough scoring to keep up. Illinois 76, Minnesota 60

Minnesota is 10-18 ATS on the road the last 3 seasons.

Minnesota is 17-22 ATS when revenging a loss the last 3 seasons.

Illinois is 34-24 ATS after a conference game the last 3 seasons.

PG: Ta'Lon Cooper

SG: Jamison Battle

SF: Jaden Henley

PF: Joshua Ola-Joseph

C: Pharrel Payne

PG: Jayden Epps

SG: Terrence Shannon Jr.

SF: Matthew Mayer

PF: Dain Dainja

C: Coleman Hawkins