March 13 CBB Lines

The January 29 CBB lines are live on BetRivers.com, and although two of the top games were postponed due to COVID-19 issues, Friday’s top game is still must-watch.

No. 7 Iowa hits the road to take on No. 19 Illinois in one of the most anticipated games of the entire college basketball season. The Hawkeyes have won five of their last six but dropped their most recent contest, a 12-point home loss to Indiana. The Illini have dropped two of their last three, a three-point loss to Maryland and a 6-point loss to No. 21 Ohio State, before beating Penn State by 14 earlier this week. View the latest odds and bet online legally, securely, and easily with the top rated online sportsbook.

Rob Dauster, a longtime national college basketball writer, and co-founder of the Field of 68 Podcast Network breaks down the January 29 CBB lines, focusing on the Iowa-Illinois Odds.

#7 IOWA (12-3, 6-2) at #19 ILLINOIS (10-5, 6-3), 9 p.m. ET
MONEYLINE: Illinois -141, Iowa +120
SPREAD: Illinois -2.5
OVER/UNDER: 161.5 points

This has the potential to be one of the most exciting games of the entire college basketball season. In fact, the all-knowing KenPom has a metric on his website called thrill score while is supposed to measure how entertaining and competitive a basketball game is going to be, and tonight’s matchup between two of the best teams in the Big Ten has the highest thrill score of any game this season.

So buckle up!

Because this one is going to get up and down.

Iowa wants to run. We know that. They push the pace, they look for early offense threes and if those don’t come, they run a four-around-one offense, looking to get Luka Garza post touches.

Where that offense becomes effective is when teams are forced into making a decision: To double or not to double?

Luka is unstoppable on the block when he can overpower an opponent, but he is not going to be able to overpower Kofi Cockburn, who is the single strongest player in college basketball this season. Assuming that he can stay out of foul trouble — which, you know, is no guarantee — that should be a matchup that favors Illinois.

As is the other side of the floor.

We know that Iowa is not a great defensive team, but where they struggle the most is against teams that are able to put them into ball-screens with athletic guards that can get downhill. “Athletic guard that can get downhill” is quite literally* what is written on Ayo Dosunmu’s bio on the Illinois website. And he’s not alone. Trent Frazier is good. Adam Miller is making shots again. Andre Curbelo will be able to create off the bounce.

To me, everything about this matchup screams Illinois.

*Well, it’s not, but it should be.

JANUARY 29 CBB LINES: NOTABLE GAMES

6 p.m.: UNC Ashville at Winthrop (-12.5). O/U 154.5
7 p.m.: Ohio at Buffalo (-2). O/U 160.5
8:30 p.m.: Coastal Carolina (-1.5) at Georgia Southern. O/U 142.5
9 p.m.: #7 Iowa at #19 Illinois (-2.5). O/U 161.5
9 p.m.: New Mexico State at Grand Canyon (-4.5). O/U 132
11 p.m.: Boise State (-2.5) at Colorado State. O/U 145.5