THE ESSENTIALS
WHAT
#26 Michigan (7-6, 1-2 Big Ten) vs #12 Illinois (12-3, 5-0 Big Ten)
WHERE
Phil Klein Insurance Group Arena Champaign, IL
WHEN
9 PM Eastern
THE LINE
Kenpom: ILL -7 Torvik: ILL -8
TELEVISION
FS1
THE OVERVIEW
Michigan is back on the court tonight after missing two games with COVID issues. Some players may not be fully recovered, Michigan hasn't been able to practice 5-on-5 since the shutdown, and they get a red-hot Illinois team. This is probably going to be ugly. I'm slightly surprised that the game is on the board in Vegas, and more surprised still that the line is around 9 or 9.5. These days lines don't diverge much from Kenpom/Torvik ones but you'd think "this team might have a bunch of guys out with COVID and definitely hasn't practiced" would push it a little more.
Anyway, for the first time in a long time Michigan basketball enters a game and I'm expecting them to get blasted.
THE US
Seth's g