Curt Cignetti might win, but he still has his doubters.
Four of the five pickers on ESPN’s College GameDay went with Illinois to beat Indiana on Saturday evening (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC).
The iconic college football pregame show set up shop in Miami on Saturday rather than returning to Bloomington for the top-20 Big Ten battle of unbeatens. GameDay came to Bloomington last October when the Hoosiers defeated Washington.
Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, and Celebrity Guest Picker Matthew Tkachuk all went with the Illini to win at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. These are straight-up picks, not against the spread. IU is around a 6.5-point favorite.
Cignetti was formerly an assistant coach at Alabama under Saban.
“I like Illinois in this game, too. I think they have a little better defense, and I think they may be the more physical team,” Saban said.
Pat McAfee, who moments later jumped off a high dive to lock in his pick for Miami over Florida, chose the Hoosiers.
On a podcast episode earlier in the week, GameDay’s Rece Davis picked Illinois, while Pete Thamel liked Indiana.
Beyond ESPN, FOX’s Joel Klatt also picked Illinois to win on Saturday evening.
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