Illinois vs. Duke prediction, odds, time: 2025 college football Week 2 picks from expert on 9-1 roll

The 11th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini will look to stay unbeaten when they battle the Duke Blue Devils in a Week 2 college football matchup on Saturday. Illinois is coming off a 52-3 season-opening win over Western Illinois, while Duke defeated Elon 45-17. The Fighting Illini, who finished 10-3 a year ago, were 2-2 on the road. The Blue Devils, who were 9-4 in 2024, were 5-1 on their home field.

Kickoff from Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C., is set for noon ET. The all-time series is tied 1-1. The Fighting Illini are 2.5-point favorites in the latest Illinois vs. Duke odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 49.5. Before making any Duke vs. Illinois picks, make sure you check out what SportsLine expert, Emory Hunt, has to say. New users can also target the DraftKings promo code, which offers $300 in bonus bets instantly plus over $200 off NFL Sunday Ticket:

Hunt is the founder and CEO of Football Gameplan, which has been supplying analysis of all levels of football since 2007, and a former running back at Louisiana-Lafayette. He knows the game from a player’s perspective. Hunt’s dedication to analysis of all levels of college and professional football helped go 224-198 (+605) on all college football picks over the past two years. He is also 9-1 (+790) on his last 10 picks in Duke games. Anyone who has followed him could be way up.

Now, Hunt has zoned in on Illinois vs. Duke. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are several CFB odds and college football betting lines for Duke vs. Illinois:

Why Illinois can cover

Senior quarterback Luke Altmyer enters his third season at Illinois. In last week’s win, he completed 17 of 21 passes (81%) for 217 yards and three touchdowns. He is coming off a solid season, one in which he completed 60.8% of his passes for 2,717 yards and 22 touchdowns with just six interceptions. He also rushed 99 times for 217 yards and four touchdowns.

Also helping power the offense is junior running back Aidan Laughery. He is in his fourth season with the Fighting Illini. Against Western Illinois last week, he carried nine times for 101 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 22 yards. Last season, Laughery carried 97 times for 589 yards (6.1 average) and four touchdowns. See which team to back at SportsLine. 

Why Duke can cover

Sophomore transfer quarterback Darian Mensah is off to a hot start to his Blue Devils career. In the win over Elon, he completed 27 of 34 passes (79.4%) for 389 yards and three touchdowns. Last season at Tulane, Mensah played in 13 games. He completed 65.9% of his passes for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns with six interceptions for a 166.7 rating.

Senior wide receiver Cooper Barkate is in his first season with Duke, after spending the past three years at Harvard. Last week, he led the Blue Devils with five receptions for 117 yards, including a long of 46. Last season at Harvard, he caught 63 passes for 1,084 yards (17.2 average) and 11 touchdowns. For his career, he has 118 receptions for 1,859 yards (15.8 average) and 14 touchdowns. See which team to back at SportsLine, and new users can also check out the latest bet365 bonus code to get $300 in bonus bets after placing a $5 bet:

How to make Illinois vs. Duke picks

For Saturday’s Illinois vs. Duke matchup, Hunt is leaning under the total, but he also says a critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back. See what it is at SportsLine.

Who covers in Illinois vs. Duke and what critical x-factor do you need to know about? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Illinois vs. Duke spread you need to jump, all from the expert who returned $790 to $100 players over his last 10 Duke picks, and find out.