I'm taking Chattanooga for a plethora of reasons. They are an effective mid-range team that does not depend on close shots to effectively score. This is huge when playing against a player like Kofi Cockburn. The Mocs also lock down the three point line. They should be able to limit the damage from deep and force Illinois to score at a slower pace because of it. The Mocs are talented at getting shots off and finding good looks, their style leads to consistent basketball and Illinois has struggled to string together good performances this season. I think the focus for the Illini will be to advance and we will get the +8 cover.

The matchup of Illinois' Kofi Cockburn and Chattanooga's Sylvio De Sousa is a grown man's battle in the post. It's an edge to Cockburn, for sure, but the Mocs at least have enough team size to scheme up a way to make things difficult for the Illinois big man. The Fighting Illini have good wins late in the year even with some injury issues, but what they don't have is a win by eight points or more since Feb. 5. It's not a team I can trust to put the underdog away, and the Mocs are good enough to hang around.

As the end of the season was coming, my view on the Illini has changed. They have glaring weaknesses that the Hoosiers showed to the world. The Mocs should be able to replicate what the Hoosiers did. The Mocs are very talented. Malachi Smith and David Jean-Baptiste will be the two best pure scorers on the court. They also have Kansas transfer, Silvio De Sousa, who is great defensively and should clog the paint to slow down Kofi Cockburn. The Mocs have very good free throw shooters which will help coming down the stretch. This game has upset written all over it but I am taking the points for safety.