In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, we have a great Kentucky vs Illinois matchup. Both teams breezed through the first round with Illinois blowing by Xavier, 86-73, and Kentucky beating down Troy for a full 40 minutes in a 76-57 victory.
Below, we will preview this March Madness college basketball game, giving the Kentucky vs Illinois overview, trends and our expert pick! Which school will win and keep their hopes of winning the championship trophy alive?
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Kentucky vs Illinois Prediction and March Madness Expert Picks
2025 NCAA Tournament
No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats (23-11) vs. No. 6 Illinois Fighting Illini (22-12)
Date: Sunday, March 23, 2025
Time: 5:15 PM EST
Venue: Fiserv Forum — Milwaukee, WI
Coverage: CBS
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Kentucky vs Illinois March Madness Odds
All college basketball betting odds for Kentucky vs Illinois can be found at BetUS Sportsbook.
Moneyline: UK: (+110) | ILL: (-132)
Point Spread: UK: +1.5 (-105) | ILL: -1.5 (-118)
Total: 170.5 — Over: (-105) | Under: (-110)
KenPom Rankings | Bracketology
KenPom Rankings are from KenPom.com
| Team | Rk | AdjO | AdjD | AdjT |
| Kentucky | 17 | 123.5 (10) | 99.2 (54) | 71.0 (24) |
| Illinois | 16 | 122.3 (14) | 97.7 (41) | 71.4 (17) |
Kentucky vs Illinois College Basketball Trends
- Kentucky is 4-1 in its last five games.
- Illinois is 4-1 in its last five games.
- Kentucky is 13-3 in non-conference play this season.
- Illinois is 10-4 in non-conference play this season.
- Kentucky hasn’t made the Sweet 16 since the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
- Illinois has made the Sweet 16 once since 2005.
Kentucky vs Illinois Prediction | March Madness Expert Picks
One thing is for certain, this will be a great game and the winner will definitely deserve their spot in the Sweet 16. Both Kentucky and Illinois methodically picked apart their opponents in the first round and will have a much tougher time in this game doing that again. Both teams have incredibly talented rosters but have struggled with inconsistency issues all year.
Kentucky looked good against Troy but struggled immensely at the free throw line. The Wildcats shot just 62% from the line. They do shoot just under 74% from the line on the season, so this is likely nothing more than an off night. With that in mind, they need to shoot much better to stand a chance against the Fighting Illini.
Illinois beat a solid Xavier team in the first round even with a bad performance from Kasparas Jakucionis, their X-factor. This will be an incredibly close game from the opening tip and any one player not performing up to standards will change this entire game. On any given night, Kentucky is the better team. With that in mind, they are also much more inconsistent and have free throw issues. That will make the difference in a game Illinois will eke out.
For our Kentucky vs Illinois prediction, we are picking the Illinois Fighting Illini to win and move on in the NCAA Tournament.
