Illinois vs Ohio State College Basketball Picks: The Ohio State Buckeyes will go for the Big Ten crown this evening as they take on conference rival Illinois at the Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The key conference tilt is set to get underway at 9:00pm ET and will be broadcast live on ESPN. College Basketball Picks at online sportsbook BetUS.com have the Buckeyes listed as a -9.5 against the spread home favorite.
Illinois does not have a conference championship in mind at the moment, but the Illini do have the NCAA Tournament 
occupying their thoughts as they prepare for Ohio State tonight. Bruce Weber's squad has put their post-season hopes somewhat in jeopardy having lost three of their last four games. Their latest misstep, which brought Illinois' record to 18-11, came on Saturday with a 60-62 loss at home to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Illini have been up and down away from home this season, going 6-4 in 10 road games. They are, however, 3-1 in their last four road outings with wins over Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
No. 7 Ohio State can wrap up the conference tonight thanks to its stellar play from mid-January through all of February. The Buckeyes went 12-2 in that strecth, which included road wins at Purdue, at Iowa, at Illinois, and at Michigan State. However, despite their 23-7 overall record and 13-4 league mark, the Buckeyes cannot afford to lose this evening as the Boilermakers trail them by just a half game in the standings (Purdue closes out with Indiana and Penn State).
Ohio State has been almost untouchable at home this year, though, going 16-1 with its only loss coming against the aforementioned Boilermakers. Thad Motta's crew has been especially tough on Big Ten squads at the Value City Arena, beating them by an average of 15.7 points per game.
BetUS.com Illinois vs Ohio State College Basketball Picks – March 2nd, 2010:
Illinois Fighting Illini +9.5 (-110), +400 (Moneyline)
Ohio State Buckeyes -9.5 (-110), -500 (Moneyline)
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