Texas Tech Red Raiders vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 11/11/25

You could argue the biggest game of Tuesday’s college hoops slate is when Texas Tech visits Champaign, Illinois to play the Fighting Illini. Both of these teams were amazingly consistent last week, as the Red Raiders dropped 98 in each of their wins while Illinois dropped a whopping 113 in both of their victories. Needless to say, these offenses are going to have a much tougher time scoring on Tuesday against one another, but this has all the makings for an early-season thriller. 

Christian Anderson and JT Toppin returning to Lubbock after an Elite 8 run is massive for the Texas Tech program, as they provide a foundation and continuity for the Red Raiders at 2 key positions. However, I’m not sure I trust the rest of the team just yet. Don’t get me wrong, Donovan Atwell, Tyeree Bryan and even LeJuan Watts can shoot the cover off the ball, but there’s not a ton of depth behind the starting lineup, and there’s even less interior size on this roster – which is a massive issue against Illinois. 

The Fighting Illini have one of the biggest rosters in the country from a height perspective, and because of that, I expect them to control the glass in this matchup. Through 1 week of games, Illinois is 3rd in offensive rebounding rate and 10th in offensive rebounding rate allowed. Those numbers may not hold once the Illini play some power conference opponents, but I expect this bunch to be in the top 25 all year on both ends of the floor. Playing at home with a massive size and roster depth advantage against a team that seems to just want to shoot threes thus far, I’m looking for Illinois to win and cover.

Texas Tech vs Illinois prediction: Illinois Fighting Illini -4 (-110) at the time of publishing. Playable to -5. 

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