Posted at 12:30 PM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle  +103 BET365 +100 Sportsinteraction  +105  888Sport +100 

Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, IA

Streaming: Fox Sports 1 (FS1)

Iowa +105 over Illinois

7:00 PM EST. It’s senior day at Iowa, and there is still much to be gained for the Hawkeyes as they enter this final game of the regular season after winning four of their last five and moving up to 48th in the power rankings. The only loss Iowa has suffered over that time was to Illinois in a game the Hawkeyes played hard and failed to cover by just a half point as a +9½-point pooch.

That the Hawkeyes were such a big underdog just two games ago and are a relatively small pooch today also stands out and potentially tips the hand of the oddsmakers, as they know that Illinois has little to gain from this game today. However, to an unsuspecting market, a ranked team spotting less than a basket on the road against an unranked 18-12 team is going to look mighty appealing, but we’re not going to be tempted by such low-hanging fruit.

The Hawkeyes are going to celebrate three of their top players with senior night festivities, as guards Tony Perkins, center Ben Krikke, and sixth man Patrick McCaffery will play their final home game for Iowa. Senior night is always a special one, and rarely does the home team lack effort in such a situation. Furthermore, entering tonight, the Hawkeyes sit sixth in the Big Ten (B1G) and they are on the bubble of the bracketology experts, which means there is still work to be done and the scheduling gods have presented them with a ranked invader that has little room to improve its standing.

This is a tough spot for Illinois, as the #12 Illini are locked into the #2 seed in the B1G Tournament and are slotted to be a #4 or #5 in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens here on out. If there is a move up the seedings to be made for Illinois, it won’t be this afternoon in Iowa City; it will be to win the B1G Tournament in Minneapolis later this week. The reality is that the Illini need this game today at Carver-Hawkeye Arena like they need a hole in the head, and we anticipate their effort will match that reality.

Sherwood

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