College Basketball Betting - Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Vanderbilt Commodores

Basketball betting fans no longer have to dread Thursdays; the NBA’s small card is no longer the only online betting option, as the college hoops season is officially in full swing. This Thursday night offers an interesting NCAA basketball wagering opportunity, as the Illinois Fighting Illini travel to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in an early-season B10/SEC clash. The Commodores have been pegged as 5.5-point home favorites by offshore sportsbooks, and the sports betting line ‘total’ currently sits at 125. The Illini are 2-0 on the year, 0-1 ATS. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, is 1-0 straight up and against the spread.

There isn’t any history between these two teams to draw any CBB betting trends from, but ‘total’ bettors have some numbers to draw on. The ‘under’ is 4-0 in Illinois’ past four non-conference games, and is 7-2 in its past nine overall. And in its past 26 road games, the ‘under’ is 18-7-1. Those looking for a reason to bet the ‘over’ can take solace in the fact that it’s cashed in 11 of Vanderbilt’s last 16 non-conference affairs.

Illinois is coming off an impressive 72-53 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Sophomore forward Mike Davis burst onto the scene in the victory, going off for career highs of 20 points and 14 rebounds. The Illini defense helped ensure a good night, limiting its opponent to just 12 first-half points en route to an easy win. Trent Meacham added 14 points, and backcourt mate Demetri McCamey had 13.

Head coach Bruce Weber is counting on those two to contribute night in and night out, as the Illini lack experience elsewhere and consistency could be this team’s biggest issue in 2008-09.

Vanderbilt enters this sports betting contest on the heels of a 74-48 throttling of visiting Morehead State. Freshman Jeffery Taylor paced the Commodores with 16 points, and super sophomore A.J. Ogilvy poured in 10. The Vanderbilt defense was suffocating, limiting Morehead State to just 34 percent shooting.

Head coach Kevin Stallings is relying heavily on underclassmen to carry this year’s team, especially after the graduation of stars Derrick Byars and Sham Foster the past two seasons. Replacing the SEC Player of the Year Foster will certainly be a challenge, but Stallings has brought in some ultra-athletic freshmen (including Taylor) that are also highly regarded for their basketball IQs.

That, combined with how watered down the SEC is this season, could mean history in Nashville: Vanderbilt has never made the March Madness bracket three years in a row.

Which one of these teams will grab a quality non-conference win, one that should boost its NCAA tournament resume come March? And with two young teams still finding their identities, a win in this game will do wonders for the victors’ confidence as we creep closer to the conference slate.

If you’ve got a read on these two teams, make your way to BetUS.com and place your online wagers. BetUS is the best sportsbook for college basketball wagering, so log on and bet on NCAA basketball today.