This opened at Illinois -3 As with most of the week 1 lines, if you're waiting to bet them until now, a lot of the value has been sucked out. I liked Illinois at -3 but definitely not at -7, but I don't trust Missouri, so no play for me
Still value for me, everyone is saying that Illinois doesn't have a defense, but neither does Mizzou! Illinois has a Senior 3 year starter back on experience offense, I see them pulling away late. 41-24 Illini
7 points is pretty steep considering it's played at a "neutral" field. I'm with rogers on the no play, but it's because I dont trust Juice Williams, rather than Missouri. With Fayson and Regis Benn - arguably the best player in the country in 09 and a very good speedster - the kid should be able to tear shit up. Buuuut, he's very inconsistent and finnicky. Illinois is going to struggle in the secondary and has Corey Liuget but no one else on the defensive line. If Gabbert is any kind of anything, he should be able to put up points.
Yeah I know what everyone is saying about Illinios, but this is a play AGAINST Mizzou more than a play for Illinois. I live in the Big 12 North area and watched many of their games last year and have for most of the Gary Pinkel era. And was not impressed with them at all last year with the exception of their win @ Nebraska early in the year. Pinkel is a terrible coach and with be exposed now that Daniel and Maclin aren't there to make every play for them. Illinois on the other hand has a everything set up to get back to bowl eligible and maybe 8 or 9 wins. Experienced QB, Great skill plays especially at WR, 3 returning starters on offense. Now I know what the defense play like last year, but it does have players and I see them being able to score enough to make up for their D's short comings. I am sticking by my prediction of a double digit victory. Probably a multi unit play for me.