The No. 21 USC Trojans will face their stiffest test of the season so far when they take on the No. 23 Illinois Fighting Illini in a key Big Ten Conference matchup on Saturday. USC is coming off a 45-31 win over Michigan State, while Illinois will look to rebound from a 63-10 loss at Indiana in Week 4. The Trojans (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten), who tied for ninth in the conference at 4-5 and were 7-6 overall in 2024, are 2-4 on the road since the start of last season. The Fighting Illini (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten), who tied for fifth at 6-3 and were 10-3 overall, are 8-1 on their home field since the start of last year.

Kickoff from Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill., is at noon ET. USC leads the all-time series 11-2, and will meet for the first time since 2007. The Trojans are 6.5-point favorites in the latest USC vs. Illinois odds, while the over/under for total points scored is 61.5 via SportsLine consensus. 

Before making any USC vs. Illinois picks, be sure to check out the college football predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.

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The model has simulated USC vs. Illinois 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over, and it also says one side of the spread hits in well over 50% of simulations!

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