Sports Betting: Illinois vs Missouri Odds - College Football Lines Week 1

Two border rivals from BCS conferences will meet in St. Louis as the Missouri Tigers of the Big 12 conference meet the Illinois Fighting Illini at the Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams. Kick-off is set for 12:30pm EST and the game can be seen on Fox Sports Net. Online sportsbooks have opened with Mizzou as a 12-point sports betting favorite in college football lines with an over/under total of 53. Mizzou has dominated this series with 5 consecutive wins against the Illini at “The Ed” and scored a 37-9 blowout payoff in college football betting odds last year. This will be the final matchup between the teams for the foreseeable future as the contract runs out after this showdown.

Illinois coach Ron Zook is on one of the hottest seats in the country as the Illini have gone 5-7 in 2008 and 3-9 in 2009 after their epic Rose Bowl campaign of 2007. Zook switched coordinators in the offseason but most observers consider this program to be a sinking ship. Heading into college football lines for week 1, Zook has 5 starters back on offense and 7 on a defense that allowed 30 points per game. Redshirt freshman Nathan Scheelhasse is the new QB and will have a new corps of receivers to throw at. The top 2 rushers return led by junior Mikel Leshoure who had 734 yards last year. The Illini have gone 11-21 against the betting spread in non conference since 2000 including 2-9 ATS since 2006.

Mizzou is the sports betting dark horse challenger to Nebraska in the Big 12 North and has come off 5 consecutive bowl seasons. Junior Blaine Gabbert will return as starting QB after throwing for 3,593 yards and 24 TD’s. The offense has 6 other starters back but the big story is who will NOT be back as senior running back and co-captain Derrick Washington, who ran for 909 yards last year, was dismissed from the team due to sexual assault charges. The receiving corps is young and inexperienced. The defense has 8 starters back and is looking to trim down the 25 PPG allowed in 2009. Mizzou is 14-6 ATS in college football odds for non conference games since 2005.