Posted on 1/22/2008 2:11:29 PM

NCAAB Betting - Illinois (+ 7.5) vs. Ohio State (- 7.5)

By D.S. Williamson

The Fighting Illini travel to Ohio State to take on a Buckeye team that has actually done fairly well this year considering how much they lost from their championship runner-up team in 2007. The Buckeyes have gone 4 and 2 against the spread in their last six games. The Illini have gone 3 and 3 against the spread in their last six games.

Here are some other trends:

The Ohio State Buckeyes are 4 and 1 against the spread in their last 5 games as a favorite of .5 to 6.5 points a game.

The Illinois Illini are 0 and 6 against the spread in their last 6 games versus the Buckeyes at Ohio State.

The Illinois Illini are 0 and 4 against the spread in their last 4 games versus the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are 7 and 2 against the spread in their last 9 games versus a fellow team from the Big Ten Conference.

What I noticed right away is that this line has moved up from it’s original line of – 6.5. At this point the Bucks are a – 7.5 favorite. That’s a full point swing in just a few hours.

NCAAB bettors are awfully chilly on the Illinois Illini in this game. I can understand why. Two years removed from a championship run themselves, this Illini team just isn’t the same team from even last year. They do not have a real go to scorer and it has cost them during this NCAAB season.

But the line is awfully high. Even though the Illini won’t win many games straight-up they appear to be a pretty good team against the spread having beaten the spread versus both the Indiana Hoosiers, one of my personal favorites to win the championship this year, as well as the Wisconsin Badgers, another terrific Big-10 team, in two of their last three games.

That gives me hope that they can keep this game close. They won’t win this game versus a superior Ohio State team, but they should have more than enough to keep it within the 7.5 points.

In fact by game time I am expecting to get around 8 points or so on these guys.

The BetUS NCAA basketball betting line is Illinois Fighting Illini + 7.5 against the spread versus the Ohio State Buckeyes.

I am going against the trends and the upward movement of the point spread line and wagering on the Illinois Illini to beat the spread.

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