Iowa vs. Illinois: How to watch the next Hawkeyes football game
Iowa takes the field for Senior Day this weekend with a chance to clinch the Big Ten West title outright.
The Hawkeyes (8-2, 5-2 in Big Ten play) host Illinois (5-5, 3-4 in Big Ten play) Saturday. A win would put Iowa at six conference wins, enough to cement it atop the division. An Iowa loss would keep several teams alive with various tiebreakers, including the possibility of a potential winner-take-all game vs. Nebraska on Black Friday.
Video above: Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean to miss remainder of season with injury
With that in mind, the scenario for Iowa is pretty simple: win one more game and you're in. Here's what to know about this week's game vs. Illinois.
How to watch Iowa football vs. Illinois
When: 2:35 p.m. CT, Saturday, Nov. 18
Where: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City
TV: Fox Sports 1
Livestream: with cable subscription
Online radio:
Iowa vs. Illinois betting line; what's the over/under?
Iowa is a 3.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The Hawkeyes are -154 on the moneyline.
The total is set at 30.5 points, narrowly missing last week's 28.5 total when Iowa beat Rutgers, which is believed to be the lowest pre-game total on record.
Iowa vs. Illinois football all-time results, series history
Illinois holds a close 39-37-2 edge all-time, but the Hawkeyes have chipped away at that number dramatically over the last decade.
Iowa won eight in a row from 2014-21 before the Illini broke the streak last season with a 9-6 win.
Big Ten West scenarios, tiebreakers
As mentioned above, the path for Iowa to clinch a Big Ten championship game berth is simple: win at least one of the final two regular season games and you're in.
The Hawkeyes are at 5-2 in Big Ten play, and nobody else in the Big Ten West can finish better than 5-4. That means the only way for Iowa to miss out on a trip to Indianapolis is to lose the final two games and lose a tiebreaker to one of the five teams bunched up at 3-4 — Nebraska, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Illinois.
Iowa owns the head-to-head advantage vs. both Northwestern and Wisconsin, making the paths for those two teams are complicated as they'll need three- or four-team ties atop the standings to have a chance.
Minnesota has the edge over Iowa in the event of a tie between the two. Minnesota has a nearly impossible task, however, with a road trip to No. 3 Ohio State this weekend.
Illinois and Nebraska have the best chances to take the Big Ten West crown from Iowa; both teams are yet to play the Hawkeyes and have winnable games in their other weeks.
For Illinois: Illinois needs to win at Kinnick this weekend and beat Northwestern next week, then hope for Nebraska to beat Iowa on Black Friday. The Illini also need some luck with Wisconsin and Nebraska losing, since they lost both of those head-to-head matchups.
For Nebraska: The Cornhuskers are on the road Saturday at Wisconsin. Their path is tough, but straightforward: if they win Saturday and Iowa loses to Illinois, the Black Friday game vs. Iowa in Lincoln would almost certainly be a winner-take-all, barring a Minnesota upset over Ohio State.