Early Round Lock Alert - (5) Illinois vs. (12) Western Kentucky
by Tim Furious
What kind of school name is that? Wouldn’t you love to call yourself a Western Kentucky Hilltopper? That’s pathetic. And look at their logo! It’s a severed hand waving a blanket! What the hell is that?! How have the boosters and alumni of this atrocious school let this slide by? My goodness.
When the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers visit the Rose Garden to play the Illinois Fighting Illini, it’ll be an open and shut case for the Illini. Illinois has averaged a strong +8.0 points per game and needs to crush the Toppers to make some noise as a quiet, and unacclaimed fifth seed in the South Bracket.
Not to be topped, Western Kentucky is 5-0 ATS in their last five games, beating south “prestigious colleges” as Florida Atlantic (twice!). Excuse me if I don’t take this game seriously, but the oddsmakers have made this game easy on the betting crowd.
#12 Illinois Fightin Illini
Thursday, March 19th --- Rose Garden, Portland --- 9:55pm EST
NCAAB Betting Line: Illinois -5 (125)
Illinois has pushed the OVER in 4 of their last 6 games, making the Kentucky based college a prime candidate for a blowout. Western Kentucky is just thanking their lucky stars. Illinois won’t be caught dead looking too far in to the future, but they won’t be taking this one seriously. Neither should you.
March Madness Free Pick: Illinois -5 (OVER)
