Posted at 4:00 PM EST odds are subject to change.

Pinnacle  -6 -110 BET365  -6 -110 SportsInteraction -6 -110 888Sport -6 -110

State Farm Center, Champaign, IL

Streaming: Big-10 Network (BTN)

Illinois -6 over Northwestern

9:00 PM EST. This is not some under-the-radar game. Northwestern has been the talk of the Big-10 for more than a few games now and have absolutely already punched their ticket to the main event in mid-March. The Wildcats are going dancing, their stock is through the roof, they already beat the Illini by 13 and now oddsmakers are offering up a bunch of points on one of the hottest teams in the country. If that isn’t curious, we don’t know what is so let us recap it one more time.

The Wildcats have shot up the rankings and now sit at #21 in the polls after their 5th straight win. It wasn’t just a win, however, as they steamrolled Iowa by 20 points. NW also has recent victories over then #1 Purdue, Wisconsin and then #14 Indiana. Additionally, the Wildcats have covered five straight. Now Northwestern is taking back points against an unranked Illini squad whose only win over the past 12 days came against Minnesota. The man on the street is not looking to bet on Illinois here. No way.

We’ll reiterate for the umpteenth time that we are not in the prediction business. If we were, we, too, would be on Northwestern because it looks like a steal but being able to recognize something that looks too good to be true is one of the criteria we use to handicap games. It’s absolutely not the only criteria but it’s part of the process, thus Illinois checks a bunch of boxes here. One of those checked boxes is that Northwestern’s stock is higher right now than it’s been in a long time and it is therefore the perfect time to sell. If you do decide to bet Northwestern, indeed you may win but after covering five straight, being very late to the party is usually not a profitable strategy. Fade Northwestern and if they cover, fade ‘em again next time out. Books are begging you to take the points.

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