Alabama Crimson Tide vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 11/19/25

Alabama has one of the toughest schedules to start the season, as it will face a third straight top-25 opponent. The Crimson Tide are coming off an 87-80 loss to Purdue in which they shot just 42.4% from the field while allowing the Boilermakers to hit 47% of their shots. Alabama’s high-powered offense will go up against a tough Illinois defense that is holding opponents to just 66.8 points per game and a 39.3% shooting from the field. 

While Alabama has a high-powered offense, so does Illinois. Granted, Illinois has had a significantly easier schedule compared to Alabama — facing just 1 top-25 team (then-#11 Texas Tech, an 81-77 victory) This Illini offense will be tough for Alabama to handle, averaging 97.8 points per game. They present a real challenge for an Alabama defense that gives up 81.7 points per game and allows opponents to shoot 45% from the field. Illinois is also shooting 36.2% from deep and Alabama’s defense has struggled to defend beyond the arc, allowing opponents to shoot 34.5%. ‘Bama struggled to grab rebounds against Purdue and Illinois is a great rebounding team, which I think will be the difference tonight. Both teams will be able to score, but those few extra rebounds by Illinois should provide second-chance looks and help it cover this small spread at home.

Alabama vs Illinois prediction: Illinois -3.5 (-115) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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