Illinois' Odds to Win March Madness Entering Sweet 16 (Fighting Illini Firmly in Second Tier of Contenders)

The Illinois Fighting Illini are making some noise in the NCAA Tournament. The No. 3 seed cruised past both Penn and VCU, boasting their sharp-shooting while announcing themselves as National Championship contenders.

They are now looking to return to the Elite Eight for the second time in three years under Brad Underwood, and once they do that, they'll have their eyes set on the Final Four and a shot at winning the National Championship.

Let's take a look at their latest odds to win it all.

Illinois' Odds to Win March Madness Entering Sweet 16

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Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

+1400 (6th best odds)

Illinois is set at +1400 at DraftKings Sportsbook to win the National Championship, an implied probability of 6.67%. They are firmly in the second tier of National Championship contenders next to Purdue (+1300) and Iowa State (+1700).

Illinois finished as the runner-up back in 2005 and has since made it to the Elite Eight just once, which came in 2004. With two more wins, they'll return to the Final Four for the first time since finishing runner-up in 2005.

The Fighting Illini strung together a strong regular season, finishing with the second-best Big Ten record at 15-5, alongside Michigan State and Nebraska. They had some impressive wins throughout the year, including victories against Texas Tech, Tennessee, Purdue, and Nebraska.

While they're known as a strong shooting team, their biggest strength is the complete lack of mistakes and commitment to fundamental basketball. They rank inside the top 10 in both rebounding percentage and turnover rate, which contributes to them ranking first in the entire country in effective possession ratio.

Illinois is set as a 3.5-point underdog to Houston in the Sweet 16, in a fascinating game between the top two teams in the country in terms of effective possession ratio. If they get past the Cougars, Illinois will get to face a familiar opponent in either No. 9 Iowa or No. 4 Nebraska.

The Fighting Illini have a very real chance to go on a deep run, but their toughest challenge may just come in this Thursday night showdown against Houston.

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