Illinois at Notre Dame

This will be a trying season for Brad Underwood at Illinois. The Fighting Illini were just 14-18 a year ago and all but one starter has returned. Six new recruits and three transfers will make up the bulk of the roster. His team is off to a 2-4 start. The issue is trying to piece together a defense with no experience as Illinois has allowed their last five opponents to average better than 50% shooting. Notre Dame suffered a wakeup call in losing at home to Radford but are 5-1 on the season. The Irish are 200-32 SU at home in their last 232. They are also 49-1 SU here vs. opponents less than .400 winning by 24 points per game. Play on Notre Dame.