This article is part of our College Football Picks series.
College Football Picks: Kansas vs. Illinois Best Bets
Hop into the 2023 college football season with a BetMGM bonus code for $1,500 in bonus bets.
We have a bit of fun Friday action here in Week 2, with Kansas hosting Illinois. Both were pleasant surprises in 2022, especially the Jayhawks. This would be a nice win for either program, and allow me to pause for a second to note how odd it feels to say beating Kansas in football qualifies as a "nice" win, but what about the betting possibilities? Here's what I'm feeling for this one.
Kansas vs. Illinois Betting Odds for Week 2
Spread: Kansas -3 (Caesars Sportsbook)
Total: 56.5 (FanDuel Sportsbook)
Moneyline: Illinois +130 (FanDuel Sportsbook), Kansas -155 (BetMGM Sportsbook)
Grab a piece of the 2023 college football action with a Caesars Sportsbook promo code featuring $250 in bonus bets.
This is a toss-up, given the home team is a three-point favorite. The classic rule of thumb is that being at home is worth three points, so it seems like the sense is this could be anybody's game. That's with the news regarding Kansas' quarterback as well. Jalon Daniels, the Jayhawks' star is listed as probable after sitting out the Jayhawks' opener against Missouri State. Hey, why risk a back injury against an FCS team?
Kansas vs. Illinois Betting Picks for Week 2
A line this slim draws me in. Kansas walked all over Missouri State, but we can only learn so much about that. Of course, in the days before Lance Leipold, would it have been a given that the Jayhawks would win by 31 points against an FCS squad? Illinois, on the other hand, raised a few eyebrows in eking out a 30-28 win over Toledo. Did the loss of Ryan Walters as defensive coordinator impact the Illini? Well, the assessments emanating from those who watched the game say that Illinois was a little sloppy and a little unlucky early on but righted the ship down the stretch. Indeed, Bill Connelly's postgame win expectancy for the Illini was 82.4, with an adjusted margin of victory of nine. Maybe we will look back at Week 1 for "Bert" and company and attribute a narrow win to rust. However, Toledo's dual-threat quarterback Dequan Finn threw two touchdowns and added another on the ground, and a healthy Daniels is sort of the premium version of Finn. A healthier Daniels, that Leipold magic, a home game, and a slim spread to cover point me in the direction I am going.
Kansas vs. Illinois Best Bet: Kansas -3 (FanDuel Sportsbook)
Jump in on the 2023 college football campaign with a FanDuel Sportsbook promo code for $200 in bonus bets plus $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket.
Kansas vs. Illinois Predictions for Week 2
Illinois will probably have some of the issues from Week 1 sorted out, but maybe not all of them. It likely takes more than one week for a new defensive coordinator to get everything ironed out. This will also be Ole Miss transfer Luke Altmyer's first road start. If Daniels is healthy, as expected, I think he and Devin Neal join forces to give the Illini defense problems. It should be a close one. Were this game in Champaign, I'd probably be taking the home team. These are, based on my current perception, evenly matched squads, but Kansas gets to play this one in Lawrence; it has the better quarterback and it has the better head coach, so all in all, I think it takes the win with Daniels as the star of the show.
