Illinois vs. Nebraska odds, spread, lines: Week 9 college football picks, predictions by computer model
A pair of Big Ten West rivals meet up this weekend as Nebraska hosts No. 17 Illinois in college football's Week 9 action on Saturday.
Nebraska has taken a few on the chin this season after firing Scott Frost, but has won two of the last three and coming off a 6-point loss to Purdue.
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Illinois continues to inch up the top 25 rankings this season and make a path for itself in the division chase, winning five straight games to move to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten competition.
What do the experts think of the matchup? Let's see how the College Football Power Index computer prediction model projects the game.
Illinois vs. Nebraska picks, predictions
Week 9 college football picks: Illinois vs. Nebraska
The computer is siding comfortably with the visiting team this week, as Illinois has the 68.3 percent chance to defeat Nebraska on Saturday.
That leaves the Cornhuskers a 31.7 percent shot to hand the Illini their second loss of the season while moving above .500 in Big Ten games.
The oddsmakers also favor the visitors, as Illinois comes into the game as 7.5 point favorites to defeat Nebraska, according to the lines at SI Sportsbook, which set the over/under mark at 51.5 points for the matchup.
Illinois checks in at No. 34 on the index's 131 college football rankings owing to its projected per-game scoring margin, estimated to be 8.3 points better than an average team on a neutral field.
The computer predicts that Illinois will win 8.9 games this season and currently has the best chance to win the Big Ten West at 55.0 percent, better than challenger Purdue (38.0%).
Nebraska owns the No. 71 position on the computer's rankings, projected to win 4.2 games this year and be 0.9 points worse than an average team, according to the FPI estimates.
College Football Power Index
Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.
Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season, using a combination of analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, and a team’s schedule.
College football rankings
According to AP top 25 poll
1. Georgia (31 1st-place votes)
2. Ohio State (18)
3. Tennessee (13)
4. Michigan
5. Clemson (1)
6. Alabama
7. TCU
8. Oregon
9. Oklahoma State
10. USC
T-10. Wake Forest
12. UCLA
13. Penn State
14. Utah
15. Ole Miss
16. Syracuse
17. Illinois
18. LSU
19. Kentucky
20. Cincinnati
21. North Carolina
22. Kansas State
23. Tulane
24. NC State
25. South Carolina