Belmont vs. Eastern Illinois Prediction and Odds: Bet on Bruins to Bounce Back

The 2-16 Eastern Illinois Panthers are looking to avoid their 10th straight loss when they host the 13-5 Belmont Bruins.

The road team is heavily favored at the Lantz Arena by 25.5 points as of this writing. The Panthers are objectively one of the worst teams in college basketball and statistically the worst in the OVC with an 0-5 conference record.

Belmont, in contrast, is competing for the conference title and is third behind Murray State and Morehead State with a 4-2 record in OVC play. The Bruins have won, and covered, the last nine times these teams have met. So, while technically a rivalry game, this one could get out of hand quickly. 

Here are the odds for this lopsided conference clash, courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook.

Belmont vs. Eastern Illinois Odds, Spread, and Total

Spread:

• Belmont -25.5 (-110)
• Eastern Illinois +25.5 (-110)

Moneyline:

• Belmont: N/A
• Eastern Illinois: N/A

Total: 139 (Over -110/Under -110)

Belmont vs. Eastern Illinois Prediction and Pick

The Panthers are not only losing left and right, but they are also failing to cover at a reasonable rate. Eastern Illinois is on an 0-4 ATS losing streak and averaged just 52 points per game in those losses. The Pantehrs are 1-4 ATS at home against D1 opponents and are 0-5 SU in those games. 

They do come up against Belmont during the right time though. After starting the year with a 7-0 against D1 opponents, they are 1-2 in their last three-game and 1-3 ATS in their previous four. Those two losses came as favorites to boot. While that does worry me, the Bruins are 5-1 ATS in their last six games as favorites of 12 or more.

While the Panthers have so far avoided being labeled as the worst offense in college basketball, they are the second-worst with an average of 51.9 points per game. They are losing games by an average of 20.8 PPG and rank outside the top 350 in pretty much every category.

Their scoring defense isn’t much better at 243rd. As a team, most of their defensive statistics rank within 10 spots of being the worst in the league. As I said before. This is objectively one of the worst teams in all of college basketball. 

Anything other than a blowout win by the Bruns here would be shocking to me. The question is can they cover this massive spread? I would have to say yes. The Bruins have shown their ability to cover double-digit spreads and are 4-2 ATS as a road favorite. The Panthers haven’t covered a game since Jan 13 and I don’t see that changing tonight. 

Pick: Belmont Bruins -25.5 (-110)