Bret Bielema’s first season as Illinois football coach was a mixed bag, as the Illini finished 5-7 overall. They open the 2022 season at home with a non-conference matchup Saturday against Mountain West opponent Wyoming. This is the first-ever meeting between Illinois and Wyoming. It’s the Illini’s second straight season playing the first week of the year. Last season, Illinois beat Nebraska, 30-22, in Week 0.

Before everything else, Nitrobetting arms you with everything you need to kick things off positively. Below, we provide event details, team and player statistics, and the latest NCAAF odds. More than that, we go the extra mile and share timely betting trends and predictions that help you secure the best picks. Check out for more sports betting odds and lines, exclusively at our online BTC sportsbook.

Wyoming vs. Illinois Game Information

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Get Tickets ???? » https://t.co/Cs1dnNTsa3#Illini | #famILLy pic.twitter.com/wI3B2JWzz0

— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) August 22, 2022

• When: Saturday, August 27, 2022, 4:30 PM ET
• Where: Memorial Stadium, Champagne, IL
• TV: BTN
• Radio: 99.3 KLIN (Wyoming) // 720 WGN (Illinois)
• Live Stream: BTN Network
• College Football Odds: Wyoming (+10) // Illnois (-10)

Why Bet on the Wyoming Cowboys?

Wyoming finished 8-5 last year, beating Georgia State 38-17 in the Arizona Bowl. QB Levi Williams accounted for four scores, and Xazavian Valladay ran for 204 yards and scored two touchdowns. Both those guys are gone.

After being the third-most experienced team in the FBS entering the 2021 season, UW is the third least-experienced team this fall. The Pokes said goodbye to a list of senior leaders, including All-American linebacker Chad Muma, and had 15 players enter the portal. Andrew Peasley and Evan Svoboda are battling for the starting QB job, with Peasley expected to be the guy. Last season at Utah State, he played in 10 games and finished the season with 576 yards of total offense. He was 28-of-51 (.549) passing for 415 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Running back Titus Swen is back. He earned Second Team All-Mountain West Conference honors from Pro Football Focus last year, while rushing for a career high 785 yards and seven touchdowns. He also led Wyoming in kickoff returns, with 12, and kickoff return yardage, with 231 yards. Swen added five pass receptions for 24 yards to end the season with 1,040 all-purpose yards for an average of 80.0 all-purpose yards per game. Swen averaged 5.95 yards per carry to rank No. 2 in the Mountain West and No. 26 in the nation.

Regarding the offensive line, the Cowboys definitely have some experienced players returning in senior left tackle Eric Abojei, junior right tackle Frank Crum and junior left guard Zach Watts, but developing depth is something that will be key to the performance of the O-Line in 2022.

When asked how the development of some depth has progressed this fall, coach Craig Bohl commented, “I think Caden Barnett (redshirt freshman offensive tackle) has made some progress, and Marco Machado (junior center) has done a pretty favorable job. What is also interesting is Marco is one of the top students on our campus. He’s an engineering major and is originally from Brazil.”

Why Bet on the Illinois Fighting Illini?

Illinois hasn’t finished with a winning record since 2011, and I doubt that it does this year – although it should win this game. Illinois’ defense made a 13.0-point improvement from last season (34.9 ppg to 21.9 ppg). The 13.0 ppg improvement was the program’s third-best improvement since 1950.

Coach Bret Bielema hasn’t named a starting quarterback yet for this game, but it probably will be Tommy DeVito. He’s a transfer from Syracuse who played in 24 games with 15 starts over three seasons.

DeVito completed 305-of-520 (.586) passes for 3,478 yards and 27 touchdowns with 10 interceptions, while rushing for 128 yards and three scores. He ranks in the top 10 all-time at Syracuse in completion percentage (7th, 58.6), passer rating (8th, 128.1), passing yards per game (7th, 144.9), touchdown passes (7th, 27), completions (9th, 305) and passing yards (10th, 3,478).

If not DeVito, it will be Artur Sitkowski – they might both play regardless. Last year with Illinois, the Rutgers transfer was 74-of-148 passing for 704 yards and six touchdowns. He threw 4.5 passing touchdowns per interception (9 passing touchdowns/2 interceptions) from 2020-21, the eighth-best among Power 5 quarterbacks over the two-year stretch. Sitkowski threw only two interceptions on 229 attempts (1 INT per 114.5 attempts) from 2020-21, the third-best among Power 5 quarterbacks over the two-year stretch (average: 39.7).

Illinois senior captain and offensive lineman Alex Palczewski is the NCAA’s active leader in career starts with 52 and is 13 away from tying the NCAA record set by App State WR Thomas Hennigan from 2017-21.

Wyoming vs. Illinois Betting Trends

• Wyoming is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 games.
• Wyoming is 3-6 SU in the last 9 games.
• The total went over in 5 of Wyoming’s last 6 games.
• Illinois is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 games.
• Illinois is 5-10 SU in the last 15 games.
• The total went underin 8 of Illinois’ last 10 games.

Wyoming vs. Illinois Expert Betting Predictions

Illinois 27, Wyoming 17

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