VCU Rams vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/21/26

The VCU Rams and the Illinois Fighting will meet on Saturday in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. VCU is coming off an improbable comeback against North Carolina last game to move onto the next round. They are one of two 11 seeds to upset a six seed in the first round and have a chance to win again here. Illinois is coming off a blowout win against Penn in the first round and will look to make their second Sweet 16 in three years. The Rams are an 11.5-point underdog, but I am backing the over in this game.

I like the over in this game because VCU will look to push the pace as much as possible and Illinois has one of the best offenses in the country. According to KenPom, VCU is ranked #59 nationally in average offensive possession length and #117 in adjusted tempo. To compete with Illinois, I expect VCU to try to speed up the game and make the Illini uncomfortable. Illinois plays slow but have the second ranked offensive efficiency at KenPom, which should help drive the total over. Illinois offense is ranked #36 in effective field goal percentage, #6 in offensive rebounding percentage and #20 in two-point percentage. Take the over here.

*Over 151.5 available at time of publishing. Playable at 152*