Jackson State Tigers vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 11/03/25

Opening day of the college hoops season is finally here, with over 100 college hoops games sprinkled throughout the day and night on Monday, November 3. One of those games will be a SWAC vs Big Ten battle when the Jackson State Tigers head to Champaign, Illinois to take on the Fighting Ilini for what will be the first of 5 strenuous road games in a row to start the season for former NBA player and Jackson State head coach Mo Williams and his team.

The Tigers return a solid backcourt led by seniors Daeshun Ruffin and Keiveon Hunt and sophomore Dorian McMillian. The trio overaged over 33 points per game combined last year. The frontcourt is cause for some concern, especially in this matchup with Illinois. There is not very much size here. In fact, Jackson State’s 2 best post players moved on from the program, which not only leaves a void in its post defense, but rebounding is now a decent concern after finishing last season as one of the better rebounding teams in the SWAC. 

Post defense and rebounding are 2 concerns you do not want to have against this Illinois squad. As per usual with Brad Underwood’s squads, this team is loaded with interior size, especially now that Zvonimir Ivisic joined his brother Tomislav in Champaign. The dueling 7-foot brothers provide a nice inside-outside dynamic for this team, which should improve Illinois’ spacing and perimeter shooting after finishing last year outside the top 300 in 3-point shooting percentage. In this particular matchup, the Illini should be able to name their score much like they did against inferior teams last year in a 55-point win over Eastern Illinois, a 32-point win over SIUE, a 47-point win at Maryland Eastern Shore, and a 58-point win at Little Rock. Meanwhile, Jackson State had its fair share of blowout losses last year: a 57-point loss to Houston, a 37-point loss to Xavier, a 49-point loss to Kentucky, and a 42-point loss to Iowa State, and that was with a better defensive frontcourt. This one should turn into a runaway for the Illini.

Jackson State vs Illinois prediction: Illinois Fighting Illini -30 (-110) at the time of publishing. Playable up to -32. 

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