Illinois Fighting Illini vs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Point Spread Picks

This game means a lot to Illinois head Coach Tim Beckman. His first year at Illinois was back in the 2012-13 season. He had the Illini off to a 2-1 start, and had Louisiana Tech at home in hopes of moving to 3-1. It was perhaps the most stinging loss of his coaching career at Illinois - a bitter 52-24 loss. The Illini turned the ball over six times in that game, and the 2-1 start turned into a disasterous season debut for Beckman as Illinois lost their last nine games. There were a lot of sophomores and freshmen on that team that remember, and coach has surely reminded them. This should be a highly motivated Illinois team. Louisiana Tech is off a highly-emotional conference championship game vs. Marshall, a game they almost won, but fell 26-23 and I think that will make this game tough to get up for. That has not boded well for an offensive game either as December Bowl teams off a loss in their conference championship game tend to struggle offensively. The result has been a 20-3 mark to the UNDER, failing to get to the total by an average of nearly 11 points per game. LA Tech's Bowl was last game vs. Marshall, and could easily be the lesser motivated team here. Illini also carries a 6-1 mark to the UNDER in their last seven on a neutral field. Play Illinois on the moneyline and take the UNDER in this one.