You Still Can’t Bet On Illinois College Football Teams, But That Could Change This Season

Written By Joe Boozell on August 26, 2021
Northwestern Betting Ban

The first college football game to take place in Week 1 is Illinois vs. Nebraska, but people of Illinois may not be able to wager on the Illini there.

That’s because betting on in-state collegiate teams is prohibited in the Land of Lincoln. This has been a hot topic in the Illinois betting world, and it came to a head during March Madness. Illinois earned a No. 1 seed, and it faced Loyola-Chicago in the Round of 32. It was a rare in-state March Madness matchup that nobody could bet on.

But in the most recent legislative session, the Housepassed a bill that would repeal the in-state collegiate betting ban. The twist? The ban would still apply online, and bettors would only be able to place these wagers in person at retail sportsbooks.

Rep. Michael Zalewski, who has long been pushing for a repeal, toldPlay Illinois he hopes the in-person compromise will eventually open the door to a mobile repeal as well. But in the short term, it’s in-person or bust.

The Senate has yet to vote on the bill, but that could happen in the October veto session. Sen. Cristina Castroaddressed why the Senate didn’t vote on the bill in the spring legislative session:

The Senate did not have the opportunity to examine it and go through it, & ldquo. I believe that it is primarily a clean-up act as far as the Senate is concerned. little substantial. There are only a few things that I believe we should look into more thoroughly since I last heard about them before we adjourned. & rdquo,

Having said that, the act was approved by the House with a vote of 96 to 11. Therefore, there is a great chance that it will pass once the Senate votes.

In the best case scenario, we might be able to wager on Illinois teams by the start of the Big Ten time.

Illinois college football teams are not beloved by betting areas.

If there is any great news about not being ready to wager on Illinois college football teams, it is that they aren’t anticipated to perform well in 2021.

Illinois, Northwestern, and Northern Illinois are the three FBS institutions in the Prairie State.

If you’re in the state, you won’t see odds listed for these teams on your sports betting apps. But in other markets, here’s where DraftKings Sportsbook pits over/under win total for this trio:

  • Over / under 6 for Northwestern
  • Illinois: 3.5 over / under
  • Northern Illinois: 3.5 over / under

Perhaps it’s more unfortunate that you can’t imagine against these groups in the condition than on them.

Northwestern will be decent, and the Wildcats are coming off of a run to the Big Ten Championship Game. But they lost quarterback Peyton Ramsey to graduation as well as offensive tackle Rashawn Slater and cornerback Greg Newsome to the first round of the NFL Draft.

Nebraska vs. Illinois chances

You can legally wager on the Nebraska vs. Illinois activity if you’re in a local business, such as Indiana or Iowa.

The Cornhuskers already have a 7-point advantage over the Illini. The match will take place at Memorial Stadium in Champaign and heat on FOX on Saturday at 12 p.m. CST.

Nebraska began as a 9.5-point favorite, so there has been some movement in Bret Bielema & rsquo’s first game as head coach in favor of the home underdogs. The overall discussion point overall is 55.

Last year, Nebraska finished 3 – 5 in the Big Ten, while Illinois finished 2 – 6. Labor Day weekend is a much better time for college football, but soccer fans will undoubtedly be looking forward to August 28 as well.

AP / Darron Cummings image
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Boozell, Joe

Boozell, Joe has also been a college sports writer for NCAA.com since 2015. His work has also appeared in Bleacher Report, FoxSports.com and NBA.com. Growing up, Boozell squared off against both Anthony Davis and Frank Kaminsky in the Chicagoland basketball scene … you can imagine how that went.

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