Brad Underwood talked about the upcoming matchup that the football team has. The Illinois Fighting Illini have the whole school behind them, including the basketball team.

Underwood predicted an Illini football win this weekend, saying “Winning is fun. We’re going to experience that tomorrow night.”

Winning is something Underwood knows something about, considering Illinois men’s basketball finished the 2020-2021 regular season 16-4 in Big Ten play, and 23-6 overall.  Underwood also led the Illini to their first Big Ten Tournament title since the 2004-2005 season.

The Illini football team are 4-1 on the season, dropping a game to Indiana before starting a 3-game win streak against Virginia, Chattanooga, and Wisconsin. Illinois has won each of its games by a double-digit margin. Illinois is a 3.5 point favorite on Saturday, and ESPN’s football power index gives the Illini a 60.1% chance to win.

Iowa has beaten Illinois in the last eight meetings. Illinois has a good chance of ending that streak on Saturday.