Nebraska (2-7, 1-5) opened as a 19.5-point favorite over Illinois (4-5, 2-4) ahead of the teams' Big Ten matchup on Saturday in Lincoln. The game marks the fifth time Nebraska has been favored this season alongside the Colorado, Troy, Minnesota and Bethune-Cookman games.
Illinois is coming off a surprising 55-31 win over Minnesota as a 9-point underdog at home. The Illini rushed for 430 yards on 12.3 yards per carry, including 127 yards and two touchdowns from quarterback and former Husker AJ Bush. Running back Reggie Corbin currently ranks third in the Big Ten with 105.8 rushing yards per game and leads the conference at 9.1 yards per carry.
The Illini are 4-5 against the spread this season, 2-4 in conference play.
Nebraska returns home off a 36-31 loss at then-No. 10 Ohio State. After opening the season 0-4 against the spread the Huskers have covered four of their last five games, the lone outlier being the 45-9 win over Bethune-Cookman against a 40-plus point spread.
The Big Ten announced Sunday that the Huskers and Illini will kick off at 11 am. The game will be telecast by the Big Ten Network.
