The college football season rolls on with another fun non-conference game between Illinois and Kansas on Friday. The Illini were one of the best teams for under bettors last year, but the Jayhawks were one of the best teams for over backers. Every week, I’ll post my top college football picks by Monday and provide an update before each game — you can check out all of my college football Week 2 picks here. Let’s dig into today’s Illinois-Kansas betting odds as we make our predictions and pick the best college football Week 2 bet!
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Illinois-Kansas Pick & Betting Prediction | College Football Week 2
Illinois-Kansas Betting Odds
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
Illinois: +130 | Kansas: -156
Illinois +3: -105 | Kansas -3: -115
Over 56.5: -110 | Under 56.5: -110
Expert: Isaiah Sirois
Illinois-Kansas Pick & Prediction
Week 2 doesn’t truly get underway until Friday’s matchup between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Kansas Jayhawks. Both teams put together solid campaigns in 2022 but just couldn’t finish down the stretch. Illinois is off to a shaky start in 2023, narrowly beating Toledo by two points in Week 1. Meanwhile, Kansas scored a 31-point win over FCS Missouri State. That’s a solid win, but it came by 15 points less than what they beat FCS Tennessee Tech by in Week 1 last season. However, Kansas will get a shot in the arm ahead of Friday’s contest: star quarterback Jalon Daniels is set to make his return.
The Illini lost last year’s starting quarterback, Tommy DeVito, to the NFL, so they’re in a transition year at the position. They plucked Luke Altmyer from the transfer portal this offseason, but we don’t have much data on the sophomore — after Week 1, he has 80 career pass attempts, of which he has completed 57.5% for 6.6 yards per attempt, five scores and four interceptions. Altmyer was a four-star recruit as a transfer and out of high school, and he works best as a traditional pocket passer. He gets to work with last year’s leading receiver, Isaiah Williams, who recorded 715 yards and five scores.
Illinois’ strength has been its defense, and the offseason wasn’t kind to the unit. Star cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safeties Jartavius Martin and Sydney Brown all went in the first two days of this year’s NFL Draft. The new-look secondary allowed Toledo quarterback Dequan Finn to complete 55.6% of his passes for 6.4 yards per attempt, two touchdowns and one interception. The Illini recorded just a single sack. Although the defensive line retained star linemen Jer’Zhan Newton and Keith Randolph Jr, both of whom received all-conference honors, Toledo still racked up 186 rushing yards on 4.4 yards per carry.
Was Illinois’ bad Week 1 showing a fluke, or is it a sign of things to come? Although the Toledo Rockets got plenty of big plays, they weren’t super consistent, and they benefited from 10 penalties and 100 penalty yards. Illinois may have struggled with penalties last year, too, but that didn’t stop them from going 8-4-1 (66.7%) to the under. While Daniels and the Jayhawks went 9-4 (69.2%) to the over, they did so by exceeding rock-bottom expectations against bad Big 12 defenses. It’s also worth noting that the Jayhawks are 3-2 (60%) to the under when playing as a home favorite under head coach Lance Leipold.
Check out our college football picks for Week 2! >>
The total of 56.5 for Friday’s action feels a bit too high relative to what we’re used to seeing from Illinois — the Illini never went over this number last season — so let’s bet on a bounce-back showing from their defense on Friday. While it’s entirely possible that the Illini defense is that much worse than it was last year, Illinois has gone 6-2 (75%) to the under as a road dog under head coach Bret Bielema. They are also 5-3 (62.5%) to the under in non-conference games and are 16-8-2 (66.7%) to the under overall through that span. We bought the under at 56 in the early week column, so I’m still playing this at the new number, which we can find up to 57.5 at DraftKings.
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Illinois-Kansas Week 2 Pick & Prediction: Under 57.5 -108 at DraftKings
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