If you’re an Illini basketball fan, and you’ve always wanted to go to Braggin Rights, then this is the year to do it.ย To paraphrase one of the most famous St. Louisians of all-time, the urban poet Cornell Haynes, you won’t need “more bread than aisle G,” or “more carrots than aisle 3” to get in, and you’ll almost certainly see an Illinois win.
Tickets are very easy to come by for this one, plus Mizzou is likely the worst power five conference team that Illini basketball will face this season. The Missouri Tigers currently rank No. 177 out of 358 NCAA DI teams in the College Basketball Power Index (BPI) while the Illini are No. 10.
In KenPom, Illini basketball are No. 13 while Mizzou are No. 144. With cricket betting tips free at most sports betting sites, one thing you always must remember- when backing the underdog, get the biggest amount of points you can. That is true in every sport, cricket, basketball, all of them- when you’re going against the favorite, you need to be backed big. Mizzou +15 might be an okay bet, but +20 would be a lot better.
Missouri will be a massive dog, well into the double digits, pushing 20, when the lines officially come out late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, and with good reason.
ESPN’s matchup predictor gives them just a 7.2% chance of winning this one. Cuonzo Martin’s side have been humiliated with regularity this season, and we’re not even to Christmas yet.
They lost by 37 to Kansas, 19 to Liberty, 23 to Florida State and 14 to Kansas City. Those are not typos, and the Illini will almost certainly win this one very comfortably.
Missouri is so bad that they’re actually giving up more points per game this season than they’re scoring; albeit by the slimmest of margins (68.0 to 67.9). However, conference season hasn’t even started yet, and they’ve only played three power conference teams.
And yes, Illini basketball is winless in this series since 2017, dropping the last three, but that’s about to change.
Forget all those dumb, extremely tired, ridiculously shopworn cliches about throwing out the records when a rivalry renews. Ignore the fact that Illini basketball is 5-7 in the last 12 in this series, as this game (8pm, BTN, Wednesday, December 22) will be totally different.
This Missouri team is one that is far below most of the rest of the SEC in talent level.
Also, Mark Smith and Jeremiah Tilmon are gone now, so the only former Illini basketball family member still there is Javon Pickett, who is now one of their most important players.
(Pickett signed with Illinois, but never suited up).
It’s going to be a very Illini basketball partisan crowd in midweek at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The Illinois side is greatly out-selling the Missouri side of the arena right now, according to charts on TicketMaster.
That’s expected, given how
a.) Missouri football has a bowl game that night and
b.) this is projected to be a very unfavorable and unpleasant result for Missouri basketball.
Yes, even with Illinois still missing Andre Curbelo.
COVID-19All guests ages 12 and older will be required to show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination OR a negative COVID-19 PCR or rapid test to attend all ticketed events held at Enterprise Center.
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Prediction: Illini basketball 89, Missouri 67
Illinois just set a school record for 3pt FGs made in their last outing, in a game that saw them shoot their highest FG% in over a decade. They got this; Missouri is way too weak in perimeter and jump shooting defending to even make this competitive, let alone win.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ as well as โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
He has regularly appeared in WGN,ย Sports Illustratedย and theย Chicago Tribune,ย and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast.ย Follow himย onย Twitterย andย Instagram.ย
