Offenses Should Have Edge In Illinois Vs. Tennessee

Illinois vs. Tennessee, 12:00 ET

Thanks to some dumb rule, made by someone who probably has no clue about sports betting or anything else, I cannot legally bet this game in my own state. Why is that? Well, I live in Illinois and for whatever reason, they don't allow you to bet on college-level games that involve an Illinois school. I still can bet them offshore though, and I think this is a great game for us to play. Today, the Illinois Fighting Illini take on the Tennessee Volunteers.

Illinois is off to a good start this season with a 7-1 record. Their only loss was a home loss to Marquette, a team that was on a mission and absolutely killing it at the time. Outside of that, they'ev only played one team that is likely destined for the NCAA Tournament (Rutgers could make it as well I suppose). That team was Florida Atlantic and they took them on earlier in the week at a neutral site. It isn't until the calendar is flipped that the Illini's schedule starts to get more difficult with a ton of Big 10 games. The team has been led by senior guard, Terrence Shannon Jr., who has put up 21.6 points per game for Illinois. He was dominant against FAU in the last game, scoring 33 points and shooting 71.4% from the field. Tennessee is likely to do everything they can to get the ball out of his hands. He was solid last year for the Illini finally getting a starting role and averaged four more points per game than he ever had before. So far this year, he has tacked on another four more points this season. Will they be able to get enough production from the rest of the team? Shannon Jr. has taken 102 field goal attempts this season and forward Marcus Domask has taken 84. No one else has taken more than 50 attempts this year. A team really can't rely on just two guys to beat the better teams in college.

TAMPA, FL - MARCH 11: Tennessee Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes watches the action during the SEC Tournament between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Tennessee Volunteers on Thursday, March 11, 2022 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Tennessee is only 5-4 on the season and all three of their losses are not only understandable but justifiable. They lost to Purdue and Kansas in back-to-back games, ones that were in Maui. Both of those games were good efforts from Tennessee, but they only resulted in moral victories, which doesn't count for the record, unfortunately. After returning from Maui, they had to face North Carolina in North Carolina. The Tar Heels won by eight on their home floor. It wasn't that Tennessee lost that was surprising, it was more that they allowed 100 points in one game. Coming back home, they were able to beat George Mason by 21 points. So, have they beaten anyone good? Yes, they beat a solid Wisconsin team and a pretty good Syracuse squad. The Volunteers are led by a good backcourt and not much in the frontcourt. One disadvantage they will have in this game is rebounding. They were outrebounded in all three losses and only in the Tar Heel game was it even close. I do think that the Volunteers guards move the ball around well and can score against the best of defenses.

This should be a high-scoring game. Both backcourts can do some damage and I think the Illini frontcourt should do a nice job of rebounding and getting easy putbacks. I'm going to take the over in this game as I think both will play at a fast pace, move the ball well, and do what they need to do in order to get the ball in the bucket. Back the over in this one.

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