Illinois and Western Illinois are facing off on Friday night of Week 1. The game will take place at 7:30 P.M. EDT in Champaign, Illinois. Illinois is considered a dark horse to make the College Football Playoff this year. They start their 2025 season as massive favorites against an in-state FCS foe, Western Illinois.
The Fighting Illini are 45.5-point home favorites in this game on the DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set at 63.5 points. This is a preview, prediction, and pick for this Illinois-Western Illinois game.
Illinois vs. Western Illinois Preview
Illinois Preview
Illinois is hoping for a special season in 2025. In 2024, they made some big strides in the right direction, finishing fifth in the Big Ten behind four College Football Playoff teams. They topped off their season with a great bowl win over South Carolina. They just missed out on the CFP in 2024, but are hoping they can break into the field in 2025. They are returning Luke Altmyer at quarterback, and they added some promising skill position transfers. This team should hit the ground running due to the continuity at coach and quarterback as they look to take the next step forward as a program.
Western Illinois Preview
Western Illinois is a bad FCS program in the Ohio Valley Conference. That makes this a monumental task against Illinois, hence the 45.5-point spread. They played Indiana in non-conference play last season and lost 77-3. They also played Northern Illinois out of conference, losing 54-15 in that game. They even struggled against the better FCS programs, allowing 51 points to Illinois State, 48 points to South Dakota and 45 points to multiple teams. They finished the season with the third-worst scoring defense among all FCS teams, allowing 42.9 points per game. They will really struggle to contain an Illinois offense that should be clicking to start the season.
Illinois vs. Western Illinois Pick
The score of this game will likely be whatever Illinois wants it to be. Western Illinois only scored three points against Indiana and 15 points against Northern Illinois last season. The Illini should have a fantastic defense, returning eight starters and adding three transfer starters from Wisconsin. It would likely take a freak play for Western Illinois to ever find the end zone. On the offensive side, Illinois could take their foot off the gas late, which is a minor concern. However, with new transfer wide receivers, Luke Altmyer will likely want more game reps with his new pass-catchers. If Illinois wants to break into the CFP field, they need to send a message in their non-conference slate, just like Indiana did last year. The Hoosiers should be the model for how Illinois gets into the CFP, so they should do their best to replicate that 77-3 win Indiana had in this game last year. It’s a massive number, but laying the points with Illinois is the best bet for this game.
