Tennessee vs Illinois Prediction College Basketball Picks 12/14/24

The Tennessee Volunteers and the Illinois Fighting Illini meet Saturday in college basketball action from State Farm Center. Here’s a Tennessee vs Illinois prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Tennessee vs Illinois pick. We will examine:

The Tennessee Volunteers’ recent form and player performance

The Illinois Fighting Illini’s recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Tennessee Volunteers

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Illinois Fighting Illini

Recent betting trends in games played between Tennessee and Illinois

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Tennessee vs Illinois game

Tennessee Volunteers Betting Preview

The Vols’ season has been unblemished so far. In succession, Tennessee has dispatched Gardner-Webb, Louisville, Montana, Austin Peay, Virginia, Baylor, TN-Martin, Syracuse, and Miami in their first nine outings.

On Tuesday versus Miami, the Volunteers were sitting pretty at halftime on a 38-25 advantage. Tennessee kept the pace from there in a 75-62 win. Chaz Lanier led the team with 22 points and three rebounds.

Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview

Over on the Illinois side, they’ve only got blemishes against Alabama and Northwestern (OT). Otherwise, it’s been wins over Eastern Illinois, SIUE, Oakland, MD Eastern Shore, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Wisconsin for the Illini.

In Tuesday’s matchup with the Badgers, the Illini posted a 39-35 first-half advantage and a 47-45 run from there in an 86-80 win. Kasparas Jakucionis topped the team with 24 points with six rebounds and five assists.

Why the Illinois Fighting Illini will win

• Illinois has won 20 of its last 21 games against non-conference opponents at State Farm Center.

Why the Tennessee Volunteers will win

• Tennessee has won each of its last nine games.
• Illinois has lost six of its last seven games at State Farm Center against Top 5 AP-ranked opponents.

Tennessee vs Illinois Prediction

I’m going to stay with Tennessee. This should be one of the more intriguing matchups of the weekend college basketball slate, though. The Volunteers are coming off another nice performance in a win over a struggling Miami squad, shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) from the line alongside 35 rebounds. That makes 75 or more points in eight of nine games so far for the Vols (64 in the outlier against Virginia). They’ve held opponents below 63 points for five straight games as well.

As for Illinois, they’re coming off an impressive win over the Badgers. The Illini shot 42.2 percent with a 40-29 rebounding edge in that one. This year Illinois is a big-scoring team themselves with 86 or more points in seven of nine games. This one’s bound to be a hefty total as well, and I like Tennessee to hold the Illini at bay in a road cover. Should be a fun one to watch.