The Fighting Illini will try to win and cover the spread at Memorial Stadium on Saturday when they get a visit from the Wildcats in Week 5 action.

Supporters of the Wildcats have seen them go 2-1 and 1-2 ATS so far this season, while the Fighting Illini are at 4-0 and 2-2 ATS. In totals betting, the Fighting Illini are 1-3, while the Wildcats are 1-2.



View Northwestern vs Illinois Odds and Stats.

Betting Line: Fans backing the Fighting Illini here saw them open as 7.5-point favorites in this college football clash. (Check back shortly for Sportsbook totals at sportsbooks tracked by Odds Shark as none was available at the time this preview was written.)

Power Rankings / Prediction: It's a betting matchup between the No. 5-rated Fighting Illini and the No. 119-ranked Wildcats, according to the NCAAF Power Rankings here at Odds Shark. Predictive-scoring models run on this game indicate a potential 42-30 result in favor of the Fighting Illini.



How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up Illinois's No. 48-ranked offense (32.2 PPG) against a Wildcats defense that ranks No. 34 at 19.7 PPG. The Fighting Illini passing attack has averaged 182 yards per game, less than the Wildcats give up through the air (188.7 YPG on average).

Defensively, the Wildcats feature the league's No. 100-rated road run defense, allowing 242.5 yards per game. Illinois, meanwhile, ranks No. 24 in rushing offense at home.

Northwestern was a 21-14 loser in its last match on the road against Army. They failed to cover the 5.5–point spread as favorites, while the total score of 35 sent UNDER bettors to the payout window.

In their last action, Illinois was a 23-20 Sportsbook at home against Western Michigan. They failed to cover the 14–point spread as favorites, while the combined score (43) was profitable news for UNDER bettors.


Northwestern Wildcats Trends:
When playing in October are 5-5
When playing on turf are 6-4
After being outgained are 8-2
When playing within the conference are 5-5

Illinois Fighting Illini Trends:
When playing in October are 4-6
When playing on turf are 7-3
After outgaining opponent are 5-5
When playing within the conference are 5-5

A few Wildcats at Fighting Illini trends to consider:
Northwestern is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing Illinois
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Northwestern's last 7 games when playing Illinois
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Northwestern's last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Northwestern's last 21 games on the road
Illinois is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Illinois is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Illinois's last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Illinois's last 7 games when playing Northwestern


Next up:
Northwestern home to Michigan, Saturday, October 8
Illinois at Indiana, Saturday, October 8