The time is here for more of our sparkling CBB picks, as we look at the schedule for basketball for Saturday night. The Gonzaga Bulldogs and Illinois Fighting Illini will have it in a nationally televised game, which can be seen on the college basketball TV schedule on ESPN2.

Free College Hoops Picks: Illinois Fighting Illini @ Gonzaga Bulldogs
Date: Saturday, December 8th, 10:00 ET
Location: McCarthy Athletic Center, Spokane, WA
Illinois vs. Gonzaga Live TV: ESPN2

Going to Spokane is absolutely no fun for any team in the nation, but especially not for a Top 15 ranked team coming here in one of the biggest games of the year for the Zags. A very talented Gonzaga team has a real chance to be in the Final Four this year, and this is the first real chance to prove it. We love the combination of F Elias Harris, G Kevin Pangos, and G Gary Bell Jr., and we know that C Przemek Karnowski is bringing a heck of a lot to the table as well. G David Stockton, son of the great Gonzaga star, G John Stockton is playing just like his dad as well, dishing out a ton of assists and scoring points sparingly, but he is having a great time playing with this team. Don’t get us wrong, we think that the Illini are solid this year, but we don’t think that they are a legitimate Top 10 type of team. They really haven’t beaten all that much in the way of talented teams, though the wins over USC and Butler were nice in Maui. This is going to be a rude awakening we think, and a real notice to the rest of the country that the Zags are legit.

Illinois vs. Gonzaga Pick: Gonzaga Bulldogs
Illinois vs. Gonzaga Prediction: Gonzaga 81 – Illinois 65

No related posts.