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Alabama Crimson Tide vs Illinois Fighting Illini Picks

United Center

<p>The No. 11 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide roll into the Windy City to take on the No. 8 Illinois Fighting Illini. Although this isn&#8217;t a home game for Brad Underwood&#8217;s squad, you&#8217;ve got to think the United Center will be filled with a lot more orange than red on Wednesday night. Can the Tide bounce back following their home loss to Purdue in what will be a third straight game against a top 10 opponent? Let&#8217;s find out with our favorite picks.</p>
<h4>NCAA Basketball Conference Previews</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong><a href="/articles/ncaab/2025-2026-sec-basketball-preview-picks-predictions-futures/">SEC Basketball Preview</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="/articles/ncaab/2025-26-big-12-basketball-conference-preview-picks-predictions/">Big 12 Conference Picks</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="/articles/ncaab/2025-26-big-ten-basketball-conference-preview-picks-predictions/">Big Ten Conference Predictions</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="/articles/ncaab/2025-26-acc-basketball-preview-picks-predictions/">ACC Basketball Preview</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="/author/nate/">Go check out what else I&#8217;ve got on</a> my daily card, and view the latest odds at the <a href="/best-online-sportsbooks/">best online sportsbooks.</a></p>
<h2><a href="/ncaab/matchup/2025-11-20-alabama_crimson_tide-illinois_fighting_illini-n-1/">#11 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. #8 Illinois Fighting Illini NCAA Basketball Insights</a></h2>
<div id="attachment_89506" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89506" class="size-full wp-image-89506" src="https://wp.bettingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Labaron-philon-alabama-basketball-picks.jpg" alt="Labaron Philon leads the Tide against another top 10 opponent - Alabama Illinois Picks" width="1200" height="675" srcset="https://wp.bettingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Labaron-philon-alabama-basketball-picks.jpg 1200w, https://wp.bettingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Labaron-philon-alabama-basketball-picks-300x169.jpg 300w, https://wp.bettingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Labaron-philon-alabama-basketball-picks-1024x576.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><p id="caption-attachment-89506" class="wp-caption-text">Labaron Philon leads the Tide against another top 10 opponent</p></div>
<p>Yes, this is the third straight matchup against a top 10 team for the Tide. After beating North Dakota in their opener, they took down No. 5 St. John&#8217;s at Madison Square Garden. After that, they just lost to No. 2 Purdue at home last Thursday. Now they face the No. 8 Illini in what will basically feel like a road game, much like how things probably felt in MSG. Looking ahead, Alabama faces No. 13 Gonzaga on Monday in Las Vegas in the start of the Player&#8217;s Era Festival in Las Vegas, so more travel and another very tough opponent, perhaps a fourth straight top 10 foe. Can they keep going in this early season gauntlet?</p>
<p>Illinois is dealing with tons of injuries but they are still cruising. They covered the spread in their first three wins, beating Texas Tech in a big one at home before only beating Colgate by 19. Boohoo. My worry for them, is this will be their first contest outside of Champaign. Sure, Chicago is just a short two hour drive away, but the Illini won&#8217;t have the comfort of the State Farm Center in this one.</p>
<h3>Matchup Information &#8211; Alabama vs. Illinois &#8211; November 19</h3>
<ul>
<li>Venue &amp; Location: United Center (Chicago, IL)</li>
<li>Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2025</li>
<li>Kick Off: 9:00 p.m. Eastern</li>
<li>Broadcast: FS1</li>
</ul>
<h3>Alabama vs. Illinois Betting Odds</h3>
<p><em><a href="/best-online-sportsbooks/betonline/">Odds are courtesy of BetOnline</a>, one of our favorite online sportsbooks, as of November 18, 2025 at 6:43 p.m. eastern. Sign up today with <a href="https://affiliates.bettingnews.com/register/betonline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Promo Code BNBOL55 for a 55% deposit bonus.</a> BetOnline offers a wide variety of unique markets across nearly every sport imaginable.</em></p>
<h4>Spread</h4>
<ul>
<li>Alabama +3 (-115)</li>
<li>Illinois -3 (-105)</li>
</ul>
<h4>Total</h4>
<ul>
<li>Over 180 (-118)</li>
<li>Under 180 (-102)</li>
</ul>
<p>Both of these teams are incredibly fast, hence the massive total. I honestly like the over, but watched it steam up from 176 to 178.5 before my own two eyes and now we see it at the 180 mark. It&#8217;s a pass for me on the total, but I definitely think we see plenty of points.</p>
<p>Alabama is the second fastest team in the country, and the Illini are No. 36. They have no problem playing fast, they actually prefer it, and I think they are capable of handing the Tide back to back losses early in the season.</p>
<h2><a href="/ncaab/matchup/2025-11-20-alabama_crimson_tide-illinois_fighting_illini-n-1/">#11 Alabama vs. #8 Illinois NCAA Basketball Picks and Predictions</a></h2>
<div id="attachment_89184" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89184" class="size-full wp-image-89184" src="https://wp.bettingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kylan-boswell-illinois-basketball-picks.jpg" alt="Kylan Boswell is a senior leader for this Illini team - Alabama Illinois Picks" width="1200" height="675" srcset="https://wp.bettingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kylan-boswell-illinois-basketball-picks.jpg 1200w, https://wp.bettingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kylan-boswell-illinois-basketball-picks-300x169.jpg 300w, https://wp.bettingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kylan-boswell-illinois-basketball-picks-1024x576.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><p id="caption-attachment-89184" class="wp-caption-text">Kylan Boswell is a senior leader for this Illini team</p></div>
<h3>Alabama vs. Illinois Prediction: Illinois Wins and Covers, Over 180</h3>
<h3><a href="https://affiliates.bettingnews.com/register/betonline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Best Bet: Illinois -3 (-105) BetOnline</a></h3>
<p>Alabama lives and dies by the three ball. We know this. Against Purdue they were 16/43 from deep, shooting over 65% of their shots from downtown, and against the Johnnies they were 11/35, taking 43% of total field goal attempts from beyond the arc. In both games, they struggled to get to the line when their opponent shot a ton. Alabama gave up 63 total free throws while only taking 32 in those games. Illinois will take advantage, they can exploit the Tide&#8217;s weaknesses.</p>
<p>For starters, the Illini rank No. 36 in the country in three point percentage defense, holding their foes to just 25%. We saw Alabama&#8217;s front count get exposed against Purdue, as they were out rebounded 52-28, and Illinois certainly has the big bodies of their own to clean up the glass. Illinois ranks top 10 in rebounding on both sides of the basketball.</p>
<p>Plus, the European All Stars of Champaign rank top 50 in eFG% and top 15 in adjusted efficiency on both sides of the ball. The Illini are good, and <a href="/articles/ncaab/ncaa-basketball-preview-picks-predictions-2025-2026-college-hoops-breakdown/">I promise it&#8217;s not just my 40-1 future saying so.</a> Look for them to take down an already demoralized Alabama team.</p>
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<p>Here at Betting News, we offer <a href="/picks/">Free Expert Picks</a> for every major sports league. We also host daily streams on our <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/bettingnews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitch Channel with our best bets</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.playback.tv/bettingnews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sweat out games on Playback!</a> Be sure to tune into everything we have going on at our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@YourBettingNews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Youtube</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@yourbettingnews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/YourBettingNews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X pages as well,</a> and <a href="https://x.com/Shaggy_Bets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">follow my personal twitter @Shaggy_Bets for my full daily card.</a></p>
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<li><a href="/articles/ncaab/ncaa-basketball-transfer-portal-national-championship-odds-update/">Transfer Portal Update</a></li>
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