Our free College Basketball picks are out for Monday, January 17th, 2022! Make sure you check our expert College Basketball picks before the action kicks off.
Look below to find our free College Basketball picks for the best games on today’s schedule!
#7 Purdue @ #25 Illinois – 12pm ET
This Big Ten clash features two of the conferences best. As the 7th ranked Purdue Boilermakers meet the 25th ranked Fighting Illini of Illinois. Purdue comes into this game with a record of 14-2 and 3-2 in the Big Ten. While Illinois comes in with a record of 13-3 and a perfect 6-0 record in the Big Ten conference.
Denis Kirilov
Purdue has been playing really well this season. The team dominated the NCAA throughout the first month overcoming the challenges of North Carolina and Villanova. They were also crowned with the top seed as Zach Edey, Sasha Stefanovic, and Jaden Ivey led the Boilermakers to 8 straight wins. Tough back-to-back games against Rutgers and NC State dragged them back to #3 as they are now 7th in the ranking following a loss to Wisconsin in their first match for 2022. They are coming into this fixture on a two-game winning streak beating Penn State and Nebraska, but it seems that their performance has been quite conservative lately.
Illinois, on the other hand, had a tough period throughout their first four games this season. The Fighting Illini lost twice in a row against Marquette and Cincinnati which was considered as a huge shock in Urbana-Champaign. Led by Kofi Cockburn, the team managed to pull itself together as they are now 13-3 riding on a 6-game winning streak. Their center averages 21.9 points and 12.3 rebounds per game which makes him the most valuable asset on the Fighting Illini. Illinois can also rely a lot on Alfonso Plummer, Trent Frazier, and Jacob Grandison who serve as a backup plan for the team. I think that they will be able to outsmart the Purdue Boilermakers who have been having trouble facing seeded teams recently.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Illinois (-125)
Tony Battalio
The Purdue Boilermakers come into this game with a record of 14-2 on the year. They come into this game ranked 7th in the country. Purdue is on a two game winning streak after picking up wins over Penn State and Nebraska. They will be looking to add a top 25 win on the road in this game. Purdue also comes into this game with a 3-2 record in Big Ten Conference play, after their second loss in the conference to Wisconsin last week. Purdue has only played 2 road games up until this point, losing one and winning one, so it could be a problem for them handling a loud and rowdy crowd.
𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙚
🏀 vs. Purdue
📅 Tomorrow
🕚 11:00 AM CT
📺 FOX
🎟 SOLD OUT#Illini | #EveryDayGuys pic.twitter.com/MEZfTA5zkq— Illinois Basketball (@IlliniMBB) January 16, 2022
The Fighting Illini come into this game with a record of 13-3 on the season. They are a perfect 6-0 in Big Ten play and will be looking to extend that streak to 7 with a huge top 25 victory at home in this game over the Boilermakers. Illinois has won their last 6 games and is currently 8-1 at home on the season. However, Illinois has been vulnerable to upsets as they have losses to Cincinnati and Marquette. As for the result of this game, however, I have them picking up the victory over Purdue led by Kofi Cockburn.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: Illinois (-125)
Noah Dunlap
Purdue has looked like one of the top-5 teams in the country all year, including reaching the number one spot briefly, before virtually immediately slipping up to Rutgers and NC State, which naturally caused them to drop. Since that rough stretch they’ve played more like the team we saw early in the year, but they did slip up one more time to a really good Wisconsin team, which is an excusable loss as far as it goes. Since that loss, they’ve managed to overpower Nebraska and Penn State, who just aren’t on the same level as the Boilermakers in the first place.
Now they go on the road to Champagne to take on an Illinois team that, after a slightly disappointing start to the season, has been red hot through conference play so far, as they sit at 6-0. It’s also Nats me to point out that, even with the three non-conference losses, only one was to a potentially below average team, as they came against an underwhelming Cincinnati team by 20. The other two are to Marquette and Arizona, which are both at least understandable slip ups. With the way this Fighting Illini team has looked over the past three weeks or so, even with as good as Purdue is, I think the safe bet is to take Illinois at home.
Noah’s College Basketball Pick: Illinois (-125)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
