Anyone like any of these?
Michigan -9.5
Over/under 136
Michigan over/under 72.5 points
Illinois over/under 63.5 points
I think this could be a trap game for Michigan, Illini are 4-11 so a victory for the 15-0 Michigan Wolverines seems all but academic from here. “Not so fast my friends” to quote Lee Corso, the Illini played very well in some of those losses so it depends on what Illini team shows up. Their loss at home to Gonzaga was 84-78, the loss to NW was 68-66 and the same difference in points that we had against NW. Indiana was a 73-65 loss to the Illini which would indicate we should cover the 9.5 spread, but that was a road game at Indiana for the Illini. The 11 losses could be a little misleading about their talent level. Coach Beilein has been talking about the Illini talent and type play all week and he is right, if Michigan doesn’t bring its A game tonight a loss could be forthcoming. I know I am preaching to the choir and sooner or later a loss or two can be good for a team to reduce pressure and refocus.
Definitely a trap game and one of the few games on Michigan’s schedule that would be a “bad loss” to the degree that it could put a dent in the resume. U-M hasn’t played many road games this year though and we’ll learn more about this team based on how it travels over the next few weeks.
I am confident Z can handle the pressure. JP and Eli have had their moments handling the press. I am sure they worked on it this week in practice though and will be prepared. M needs to play this game like they know they are the HUNTED and put down ILLINI’s best effort and WIN the game.
I’m thinking the over is a play tonight.
IMO: Illinois +9.5, over 136
Playing South Carolina already hopefully will help. I think I’d take Michigan over 72.5. I’ll also take the over on Matthews highlight dunks.
I don’t think that any big ten team can be taken for granted and agree with 913 that Illinois is far better than its record. But that team just has not found a winning mentality, and as long as we stay focused, we should prevail. Usually a trap game is between two big games, and this one certainly does not fit into the category.
I hope that we don’t have to risk Livers’ recovery tonight, and Johns will further unlock his potential. We are about to enter a brutal stretch of the conference schedule, and deeper bench will help a great deal.
Illinois is a bad offense without a real on-ball creator, even if they do succeed in turning us over, I have a hard time seeing them score enough. Classically, high pressure teams get demolished by Beilein teams - last years game was a rare opposing datapoint, which I’d tend to attribute to it being X’s first start after being benched more than actual schematic success.
Give me Michigan -9.5 and Michigan over 72.5 points.
I predict an ass-beating
I can’t wait to see Z, Poole, and Iggy handle their pressure. I think it is going to be a very fun game to watch. Michigan wins by 15-40 points 
I’ll take M -9.5 if Livers plays, +9.5 Illinois if he doesn’t